Ever Given Grounding Spurs Suez Canal Expansion Plans

May 11, 2021

© Cnes2021, Distribution Airbus DS
© Cnes2021, Distribution Airbus DS

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) plans to expand and deepen the southern stretch of the waterway where a containership became jammed and blocked traffic for six days in March, Chairman Osama Rabie said in a televised address on Tuesday.

Rabie presented the plan at an event attended by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who indicated that the project should be completed in 24 months at most.

The SCA plans to widen the southernmost 30-kilometer (18-mile) stretch of the waterway between the city of Suez and the Bitter Lakes area by 40 meters (130 feet) eastwards, Rabie said. It also plans to deepen that section to 72 feet from 66 feet.

A second canal lane that opened in 2015 north of the Great Bitter Lake to allow two-directional traffic would be extended by 10 kilometers on the southern side of the lake, to reach a total length of 82 kilometers and allowing more ships to pass, Rabie said.

Sisi said that, while further expansion to the canal had been under consideration, the grounding of the 440-meter Ever Given containership on March 23 highlighted the urgency of the plans.

The vessel, still loaded with thousands of containers, is being held in the Great Bitter Lake amid a dispute over an SCA compensation claim against the Ever Given's Japanese owner Shoei Kisen.


(Reporting by Mahmoud Mourad; Writing by Nadine Awadalla and Aidan Lewis; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Ed Osmond and Alex Richardson)

Logistics News

Seafarers Stranded Off Yemen After US-Houthi Ceasefire Deal

Seafarers Stranded Off Yemen After US-Houthi Ceasefire Deal

Maersk Warns Global Container Volumes Could Drop Due to Trade War

Maersk Warns Global Container Volumes Could Drop Due to Trade War

Near-Record US Container Imports in April Expected to Snap in May Due to Tariffs

Near-Record US Container Imports in April Expected to Snap in May Due to Tariffs

New IMO Designation for the Mediterranean Sea Helps Bring More Doba Crude to Europe

New IMO Designation for the Mediterranean Sea Helps Bring More Doba Crude to Europe

Subscribe for Maritime Logistics Professional E‑News

U.S. natural gas liquids exports reach record highs in April
Ukraine sunoil exports fell 36.2% in April year-on-year, according to traders' union
Tariffs are expected to end the near-record US container import streak in May