MAN OVERBOARD

Egyptians Falsely Blame First Female Captain for Suez Canal Debacle

Marwa Elselehdar was shocked to see fake news reports that she was the pilot who ran the Ever Given in to a sandbank of the Suez Canal.

Egypt’s first female ship captain, Marwa Elselehdar, has told the BBC she was shocked to see headlines that reported that she errantly piloted the Ever Given cargo ship into the side of the Suez Canal—because she wasn’t even there. At the time of the accident, she was the first mate of another ship, the Aida IV, several hundred miles away in Alexandria. “I felt that I might be targeted maybe because I’m a successful female in this field or because I’m Egyptian, but I’m not sure,” she told the BBC. The rumor started when doctored images of her on the ship showed up on social media shortly after the accident, which delayed global trade for a week. Women account for just 2 percent of the world’s seafarers, according to the International Maritime Organization.