Three container ships, one an American ship heading to Egypt’s Port Said from Saudi Arabia, another a Danish ship sailing to the US from Singapore and a Bahraini ship going to Italy from Saudi Arabia crossed the new canal.
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The trial run is an important step in achieving the objectives of the massive expansion project that aims to enhance the operational capabilities of Suez Canal to cope with the increasing traffic.
As the Sinai Peninsula bordering the canal is considered to be a base for Islamic militants, the trial was carried out amid tight security with helicopters and naval vessels escorting the ships as part of the security operation.
Earlier this month, Egypt arrested 13 persons, reportedly members of the Muslim Brotherhood, charging that had planted explosives around the Suez Canal in an attempt to block the waterway and seriously disrupt commercial shipping on the primary ocean trade route linking Asia and Europe.
As of Sunday (26 July), 99.4% of the dredging works had been accomplished.
Suez Canal Authority chairman Mohab Mamish said previously that the consultancy was chosen out of 14 worldwide firms that met tender specifications. The navigational channel will enter the Suez Canal 20 km south of its northern entrance.
Laursen stated that the proposals made business sense, adding: “It would make sense since the SCA has employed many dredgers in the past year that are about to leave Egypt; i.e. mobilisation costs could be saved by doing it now”.
The move signals a change in Turkey’s approach to Egypt. The two countries have been at odds ever since the toppling of Egypt’s first elected president, Mohammed Morsi, by the former military head and current president of the country, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
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Included in the project are Boskalis, Van Oord, National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC), Jan de Nul, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD) and Dredging global NV. In 2007, SCCT had agreed the digging of the access channel by 2011 with the then minister of transport.
