The chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Osama Rabie announced that a project to extend a second channel of the Suez Canal and expand an existing channel will be completed in July next year.
“The project will be completed in 24 months. We started in July 2021 and God willing we will finish in July 2023,” Rabie said on Sunday.
The Suez Canal Authority and its companies were developing the entire project which was initiated after Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships, ran aground and blocked the waterway for six days in March 2020 disrupting global trade.
The plans of the project indicate the southernmost 30 km of the canal, where the container ship got stuck, is set to be widened 40 meters eastward and deepened by a further six feet to 72 feet.
Rabie, who spoke on the sidelines of an event in Dubai, said the works will improve ship navigation in that part of the canal by 28 percent.
According to Rabie, the extension of the second lane of the canal will boost capacity by six ships.
