Suez Canal Dredging to Complete in July
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Monday, April 13, 2015
Egypt's Suez Canal Authority has confirmed its massive expansion of the Suez Canal is on schedule and that dredging will be completed in July.
According to a state government communiqué, Head of the Suez Canal Authority Mohab Mamish said that the coming period of the New Suez Canal will witness challenges more than the previous stage.
He added that the coming days will prove that the Suez Canal can cope up with such challenges and that Egyptians are able to make a new history.
Mamish noted that preparations are underway for the inauguration ceremony of the New Suez Canal.
The ceremony will be held in August, Mamish said, adding that the dredging works at the new waterway project will be finalized before a deadline in July.
Mamish explained that up to 131.104 million cubic meters of water-saturated sand have been dredged so far as part of the Suez Canal Development project. He noted that as many as 37 dredgers are working in the project.
The daily dredging rate stands at about 1.5 million cubic meters of sand, he said.
Egypt awarded contracts to six dredging companies for the massive project: National Marine Dredging Company of the UAE; Royal Boskalis Westminster and Van Oord, both based in the Netherlands; Jan de Nul Group and Deme Group, both of Belgium; and U.S.-based Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company.