Egypt expands suez canal, aims to boost ship traffic

The massive undertaking is the first major project opened since President al-Sisi came to power. French President Francois Hollande attended the opening which comes two years after then army chief Sisi overthrew the Islamist-led elected government.

Newly purchased French Rafale warplanes and US F-16s, delivered last week despite recent crackdowns on opposition figures and independent media, participated in the fly-overs.

Al-Sisi, the former military chief who deposed Egypt's Islamist elected government two years ago but ran for president as a civilian last year, told assembled leaders from France, Russia and African and Arab states that Egypt would continue to resist Islamist militants that had sought to block the project.

"Work did not take place in normal circumstances, and these circumstances still exist and we are fighting them and we will defeat them," al-Sisi said after signing an order opening the new stretch of canal.

The Suez Canal expansion will allow two-way shipping traffic in some places, removing some bottlenecks to decrease waiting time in the 145-year-old canal.

The project involved 37 kilometers (85 miles) of dry digging, creating a second shipping lane and widening and deepening another 35 kilometers of the existing canal, reducing the waiting time for vessels from 18 hours to 11 before entering the 192-kilometer waterway.

Officials say they hope to increase shipping traffic between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean from 49 vessels last year to 97 daily passages in 2023. This would, according to government projections, increase annual revenue from $5.3 billion dollars (4.8 billion euro) by the end of the year to $13.2 billion by 2023 and generate around 1 million jobs, over the objections of environmentalists.

In Egypt, the pro-government media has trumpeted the expansion as a national achievement in an attempt to shore up support for President al-Sisi who overthrew the elected government led by the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood; an Egyptian court has sentenced his predecessor to death.

Scores of buses ferried invitees to the ceremony as security forces deployed in Ismailiya.

For many Egyptians, the project – which was largely funded by around $9 billion dollars in bonds purchased by ordinary Egyptians – the one-year expansion is a triumph.

"Our President al-Sissi has made the dream come true, uniting us for one goal: To create a new, prosperous Egypt," said Ahmed Hamouda, a financial manager.

But others say they are skeptical of government promises.

"Any project, regardless of its size, is welcomed if it really offers new jobs and generates hard currency," said Mohammed Magdy, a physical trainer. "What I don't like about this project are the exaggerated and unrealistic figures given by the government and the media about it."

Whether the project will be a boon to the country remains to be seen, analysts say.

"The first priority for shipowners and traders is to cut costs, not speed," said Ralph Leszczynski, research head at Italian shipbrokers Banchero Costa. "The trend in recent years has been for ships to travel at lower-than-normal speeds just to... save on their fuel bills."

jar/jil (afp, dpa, Reuters)