Egypt’s top female sailor falsely blamed for blocking the Suez Canal

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Last month, Marwa Elselehdar noticed something strange. News had broken about a huge container ship, the Ever Given, that had become wedged across the Suez Canal, bringing one of world's major shipping routes to a halt.

But as she checked her phone, online rumors were saying she was to blame. At the time of the Suez blockage, she was working as a first mate, in command of the Aida IV, hundreds of miles away in Alexandria.

A doctored news report alleged that 29-year old Marwa Elselehdar was responsible for the mishap in the Suez Canal that threatened billions of dollars of daily trade during the period of the blockage.

“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 BBC News. “People in our society still don’t accept the idea of girls working in the sea away from their families for a long time,” she said.

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