374 ships cross Egypt’s old and new Suez Canal in a week

Following the inauguration of the new Suez Canal, the Egyptian waterway has witnessed the crossing of 374 ships in seven days.

Around 191 ships have passed through the Suez Canal coming from the North; while there were 183 ships coming from the South.

On August 6th, 2015, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi officially opened the new 35-kilometre channel, which enables two-way traffic along part of the 145-year old waterway, the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

The completed project, which also involved widening and deepening 37 kilometres of existing bypasses, shortens the transit time for southbound convoys by 7 hours, and allows the passage of larger vessels.

Egypt’s government expects revenues from the Suez Canal, a vital source of foreign currency income for Egypt, to more than double to $13.2 billion a year by 2023.

However, the Credit ratings provider Moody’s said in a statement released Thursday it expects “only limited credit-positive effects” for Egypt in the current fiscal year, in light of the expansion of the Suez Canal.

Moody’s stressed that the expansion’s support to Egypt’s credit quality will be through increased current account receipts and government revenues.

“The degree of support [for Egypt’s credit quality] will depend on an acceleration in global trade growth, which seems unlikely to materialise quickly,” the statement added.

“The extension will enable larger vessels to transit, benefitting not only the shipping companies, but also our partners and world trade as a whole,” Maersk Line, one of the world’s biggest shipping companies and the canal’s largest customer, said in a statement following the inauguration of the waterway extension.