Egypt to inaugurate Suez canal expansion in August

Egypt will inaugurate on August 6 a "new Suez canal" shipping route aimed at speeding up traffic along the existing waterway, officials said on Saturday.

Dubbed the Suez Canal Axis, the new 72-kilometre (45 miles) flagship project would run part of the way alongside the existing canal that connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.

It involves 37 kilometres of dry digging and 35 kilometres of expansion and deepening of the Suez Canal, in a bid to help speed up the movement of vessels.

"The new waterway will be inaugurated on August 6," head of the Suez Canal Authority Mohab Mameesh told reporters in the canal city of Ismailiya.

"The entire project is Egyptian... the idea, the planning, and the funding... the project will once again put Egypt on the world investment map," he added.

It was not immediately clear when the canal would be effectively open for business.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had launched the project in August 2014 and had set an ambitious target of digging the new canal in one year.

The new canal is considered a "national project" that aims to kick-start an economy battered by years of political turmoil since the ouster of ex-president Hosni Mubarak in 2011

Built 146 years ago, the Suez Canal is one of the world's most heavily used shipping lanes and has been a key source of international trade, earning Egypt billions of dollars in annual revenues.
Source: AFP