ISMAILIA, Egypt, June 13 (Reuters) – Egypt’s New Suez Canal will open on Aug. 6, its overseer said on Saturday, a project President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi sees as a potent symbol of national pride and a major chance to stimulate an economy suffering double-digit unemployment.
[contextly_sidebar id=”nWaN7ih84sutJ0XVP3Ecl1VTLFA2U92f”]The army began work 10 months ago on the $8 billion canal, flanking the existing, historic 145-year-old waterway and part of a larger undertaking to expand trade along the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia.
The Suez Canal is a vital source of hard currency for Egypt, particularly since the 2011 uprising that scared off tourists and foreign investment.
“The digging and dredging works will conclude on July 15. The opening of the New Suez Canal will be on Aug. 6, according to the orders of the Egyptian people and the Egyptian president,” Mohab Mameesh, chairman and managing director of the Suez Canal Authority, told a news conference in Ismailia.
“Once President al-Sisi orders the start of navigation on Aug. 6, ships will be able to go through the canal.”
Mameesh said the new canal would reduce navigation time for ships to 11 hours from about 22 housing, making it the fastest such waterway in the world. The new and old canals are connected by four small channels.
Eighty five percent of dredging works have been completed, with 219.3 million cubic meters of sand excavated from a total of 258 million cubic meters, Mameesh said, adding that the new waterway would be fully secured.
“They are not only digging or dredging works, but also preparing the maritime path to be valid and secure for global navigation. We will not allow any ship to pass unless it has navigational security,” he said.
The existing canal earns Egypt around $5 billion per year, a vital source of hard currency. The new canal, which will allow two-way traffic of larger ships, is supposed to increase revenues by 2023 to $15 billion, Mameesh said.
The government also plans to build an international industrial and logistics hub near the Suez Canal that it expects will eventually make up about a third of the Egyptian economy. .
Mameesh said he hopes a law designed to ease red tape for investors in the new Suez industrial hub will be enacted this week, adding that the new canal and the hub projects could help Egypt to realize an extra $100 billion in revenue per year. (Additional reporting by Omar Fahmy; Writing by Mahmoud Mourad; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
By Renee Maltezou ATHENS (Reuters) – Nine Egyptian men who were on board a migrant boat that sank off Greece last year, killing hundreds of people, are to face trial next month,...
By Nandita Bose WASHINGTON, April 5 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden took an aerial tour on Friday of the collapsed Baltimore bridge that is blocking a key East Coast shipping lane, and he pledged...
KORSOR, Denmark, April 4 (Reuters) – A Danish frigate deployed to the Red Sea as part of a U.S.-led operation suffered malfunctioning of its weapon systems when attacked by drones operated by Houthi militants last...
April 4, 2024
Total Views: 2190
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.