10 fast facts about Egypt’s Suez canal, as new waterway is launched this week

EGYPT is to inaugurate an expansion of the Suez Canal on Thursday, which it is touting as a boost to world trade. Here are some facts about the project, that is set to increase the capacity of the key waterway connecting the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.

1. The canal, opened in 1869 after almost a decade of work, has been a main revenue earner for Egypt and a 20th century symbol of independence. It shortens the Europe-Asia trade route by 9,600 kilometres.

2. The pan-Arabist president Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the canal in 1956, which was until then run by the British- and French-owned Suez Canal Company, sparking the Suez crisis in which Britain, France and Israel invaded parts of Egypt.

3. The waterway has continued to play a key role in global commerce and is an important route for oil traffic. In 2013, 4.6% of global oil and petroleum products passed through the Suez Canal or the SUMED pipeline that provides an alternative route from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, according to the US Energy Information Agency.

4. In 2007, traffic through the canal amounted to 7.5% of global maritime trade, according to the World Shipping Council.

5. The 72-kilometre (45-mile) long expansion is projected to cut the waiting period for ships from 18 hours to 11 hours and allow two-way passage.

6. It was built in less than a year for about $9 billion (7.9 Euros), mostly financed by investment certificates sold to Egyptians – and has been delivered right on schedule.

7. The project consists of 37 kilometres of new, parallel waterway and 35 kilometres of deepening and widening of the existing canal.

8. A maximum 49 ships a day can pass through the canal at present. The Suez Canal Authority says the expansion could almost double the number by 2023.

9. The government hopes the project will more than double revenues from Suez Canal tolls, a key income generator for Egypt, from the $5.3 billion projected for 2015 to $13.2 billion in 2023. But it is not yet clear the magnitude of impact the improvements to the 192 kilometre waterway will have on world trade.

10. But the rest of Africa is looking for a piece of the growing global maritime traffic, too. Nigeria, Tanzania and Kenya have all announced plans to modernise ports and increase efficiency; port throughput in Africa is expected to rise from 265 million tonnes in 2009 to more than 2 billion tonnes in 2040, while transport volumes will increase six- to eightfold, with a particularly strong increase of up to 14 times for some landlocked countries.

source:Mail & Guardian Africa