Suez Canal two-way section to expand by another 10 km - Reuters

The project is in progress and the two-way section will be expanded to 82 km, Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chairman Osama Rabie has told Reuters.

PHOTO: A containership passes through Suez Canal. SCA

The expansion of the canal is due to be completed in July 2023 - almost 24 months after the launch of the project - and is claimed to improve ship navigation by 28% in the difficult patches of the canal, SCA said last month.  

The port authority rushed through its plan to extend a second channel of the canal while widening the existing channel after the containership Ever Given ran aground at the southernmost part of the canal and blocked passage for almost six days last year.

“It would be expensive to expand the entire waterway that links the Red Sea and the Mediterranean,” chairman Osama Rabie said.