Cairo to deepen Suez Canal

19 October 2007
Work is set to begin in 2008 on increasing the draught of the Suez Canal to an ultimate final depth of 72 feet.

Dredging is currently under way to lower the draught from 62 feet to 66 feet. That work is 75 per cent completed and will be finished next year. The work has taken six years and cost an estimated $250 million. A study to examine increasing the draught to 72 feet will begin as soon as the current work is completed. A road tunnel running beneath the waterway means that 72 feet is the maximum future depth of the canal as a safe distance must be maintained between the canal bed and the roof of the road tunnel. At 66 feet, the canal will be able to accommodate fully loaded ships of up to 240,000 tonnes, giving it capacity for 99 per cent of the world's bulk container vessels and 60 per cent of oil tankers. 'The work to increase the draught to 72 feet will not be completed until well into the next decade, but when it is, the canal will be able to take ships of up to 350,000 tonnes,' says an official at the Suez Canal Authority (SCA). Meanwhile, revenues at the Suez Canal for September were $403 million, up from $332.3 million in the same month the previous year. This is the third month in succession that monthly revenues have exceeded those of the previous financial year. The results have sparked expectation within the SCA that this year's annual total may exceed the $4,200 million from last year, the highest in the canal's history. www.meed.com/transport

A MEED Subscription...

Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.