Changing the Suez Canal: what the Egyptian authorities propose

Egyptian authorities have announced plans to conduct a feasibility study for a new giant project aimed at expanding the Suez Canal. The idea is to speed up transit time and avoid maritime congestion.

It is already known that the head of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), Osama Rabi, will present to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi a project to "duplicate the Suez Canal". This is stated in the material of the publication Egypt Independent.

The Egyptian authorities are working to create two 192 km long canals to reduce the waiting time for ships, which can last up to three hours.

According to experts involved in the development, the new project to double the Suez Canal will have 100 percent reliability.

It is emphasized that currently 70-80 ships pass through the canal every day. At the same time, after the project is implemented, the number of ships passing through Egypt will increase, and the passage period will be reduced to about nine hours.

It is clarified that the proposed plan provides for the transformation of single-lane lanes - 50 kilometers in the northern part and 30 kilometers in the southern part - into two-lane crossings for cargo ships.

The new expansion proposals build on plans that were first unveiled in 2021 after the giant ship Ever Given ran aground, closing much of the vital sea lane for about a week.

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