Ahead of the opening of a new, second shipping lane in the Suez Canal next month, the waterway first had to be tested.
Less than one year after the Egyptian Army began construction on the canal, on July 25, three container ships sailed through the 44-mile waterway, the Journal of Commerce (JOC) reported. More test runs will be held before Egyptian president Abdel Fattah-al-Sisi officially opens the second lane of the canal on Aug. 6. The trial run took place among the presence of plenty of security forces, whom were brought in due to the canal's proximity to the Sinai Peninsula. The region has its share of violence since Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically-elected president, was ousted by the army in 2013.
Three ships pass through Suez Canal ahead of official opening
Three ships passed through the waterway in the first test run. One was an American ship on its way to Port Said from Saudi Arabia, another was a Danish ship heading toward the U.S. from Singapore and the final vessel was Bahraini ship on its way to Italy, also from Saudi Arabia, Business Insider reported.
The canal first opened nearly 150 years ago and connects the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, according to the BBC. The improvements to the waterway are expected to boost both trade and employment in Egypt. Right now, the canal is one of the country's sources of foreign currency income, handling 7 percent of international sea-borne business. The head of the Suez Canal Authority, Adm Mohab Mameesh, on Saturday also revealed plans to begin construction on a new canal. It will be located near East Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea, will end up around 6 miles long, and cost around $60 million.
Expanded waterway expected to kickstart Egyptian economy
Mameesh explained that the second Suez Canal waterway is expected to slash navigation time for ships from around 22 hours to 11 hours, according to Business Insider. This would make it the fastest waterway of its kind. By 2023, annual revenues from the canal to Egypt are expected to reach over $13 billion, up from around $5 billion now. Additionally, the government plans on constructing an international industrial and logistics hub close to the canal, that will, hopefully, eventually contribute substantially to Egypt's economy.
The canal and industrial and logistics hub are part of an $8.5 billion regional project meant to establish a free trade zone for the Middle East, North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean, according to the JOC. The various initiatives are expected to revitalize an area that lost much of its tourism and foreign investment in the wake of 2011's Arab Spring.