Dredging work to expand, deepen Suez Canal’s southern sector nearing completion

CAIRO – 13 April 2023: 88 percent of the dredging work to expand and deepen the southern sector of the Suez Canal has been completed, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Osama Rabie announced on Thursday.

Work has been underway over the past months to develop the southern part of the Suez Canal from the canal’s 132-kilometer mark to the 162-kilometer mark, extending from the Bitter Lakes to the exit of the canal.

Work is also underway to extend a second lane at the canal from the 122-kilometer mark to the 132-kilometer mark to allow two-way traffic in the southern section of the canal.

The project to expand the international trade route has emerged following the success of efforts in March 2021 to refloat the 400-metre-long Ever Given container ship that ran aground in the southern segment and disrupted global trade for around a week.

Suez Canal showed an increase in the number of ships that passed through the canal by about 20% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year, a statement by the Suez Canal revealed on Tuesday.

The canal also showed an increase in revenues to record about $2.3 billion, an increase of about 35% compared to last year. The canal also achieved the highest daily transit rate in its history, on March 13, with 107 ships, with a tonnage of 6.3 million tons.