Egypt Suez Canal port shut after strikes

Egypt's Red Sea Port Authority said on Friday that the Ain Sokhna port at the southern entrance to the Suez Canal has been shut due to strike action, the official MENA news agency reported.

Dubai's DP World which operates the hi-tech terminal, was forced to shut down operations after strikes that began on Tuesday and have cost the company one million dollars a day, MENA said.

The port will remain closed until the labour ministry looks into the matter, MENA quoted port authority chief Mohammed Abdel Qader Gaballah as saying.

Workers at Ain Sokhna port have been demanding wage restructuring and hardship allowances.

The strike comes amid a wave of industrial action that has crippled the country since an uprising that toppled the regime of president Hosni Mubarak in February.