Egypt begin work on second Suez Canal which will run alongside the original 145-year-old waterway in five years' time
- The new 45-mile section would run alongside the existing Suez Canal
- Project could be complete in five years at a cost of more than £2.4billion
- 101-mile-long Suez is the fastest shipping link between Europe and Asia
- New waterway will allow ships to travel in both directions for half that length
- Egyptian authorities believe it will boost annual revenues to $13.5billion
Egypt is planning to build a new Suez canal alongside the existing 145-year-old waterway in a multi-billion pound bid to boost its economy.
The 45-mile corridor will expand what is the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia and is part of several 'mega projects' designed to breathe new life into the nation.
Warplanes flew overhead in a ceremony broadcast on state television from the canal city of Ismailia as Egypt's president Abdel-Fatteh el-Sisi officially launched the military-led scheme, set to cost £2.4bn.
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Egypt is planning to dig a new waterway alongside the existing Suez Canal in a move they believe will pump billions of pounds in to the economy
Egypt is the gatekeeper of the Suez Canal, one of the world's busiest water corridors and the strategic link between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean
He said that digging of the new canal will allow ships to travel in both directions for just under half of the canal's 101-mile length. And although the initial time frame for completion was five years, el-Sisi estimated it could be finished in just 12 months.
Egypt is the gatekeeper of the Suez Canal, one of the world's busiest water corridors and the strategic link between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.
The current Suez Canal brings in around $5billion of revenues per year, a vital source of hard currency for Egypt which has suffered a slump in tourism and foreign investment since its 2011 uprising.
THE LINK BETWEEN EUROPE AND ASIA: A HISTORY OF CANALS IN EGYPT
The first canal connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas via the Nile River was dug in 1874 B.C. during the reign of the Egyptian pharaoh Senausret III. It was abandoned and reopened several times over the subsequent 2,500 years.
Pharonic inscriptions showed that Egyptians used the canals to move warships, send pilgrimages to the Holy Land and transport grain and stones used in ancient monuments.
Napoleon sought to build a modern canal in order to undermine Britain's control of trading routes to Asia, but he abandoned the project after engineers wrongly determined that a difference in water levels would cause the Mediterranean to be inundated.
Damaged ships are pictured in Egypt's Port Said, north of the historic waterway, during the Suez Crisis of 1956
French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps and Egyptian viceroy Said Pasha developed the current Suez Canal in the mid-19th century. French and Egyptian private interests controlled the company entrusted with building and running the canal, though Britain later acquired Egypt's share.
Completion of the 101 mile waterway took 10 years of intense and generally poorly-paid work by Egyptians who were drafted at the rate of 20,000 every 10 months from 'the peasantry.'
The canal, which was opened for navigation on November 17, 1869, cut weeks if not months off journeys between Europe and Asia that otherwise necessitated a trip around Africa. Numerous heads of state visited Egypt for weeks of celebrations.
In 1956, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the canal, leading to a failed invasion by Britain, which controlled the channel, as well as France and Israel. The waterway was closed briefly until 1957 and the again for eight years following the 1967 war with Israel.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced on Tuesday that Egypt would build a new channel as part of a larger project to expand port and shipping facilities around the canal in an effort to establish Egypt as a major trade hub.
But sources in the Suez Canal Authority have reportedly said the new canal will boost annual revenues to $13.5billion by 2023.
To attract more ships and generate more income, the country has had plans to develop 29,000 square miles around the canal for years.
'This giant project will be the creation of a new Suez Canal parallel to the current channel of a total length of 72 kilometres (44.74 miles),' Mohab Mamish, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, told a conference in Ismailia.
A couple watch the vast U.S. aircraft carrier USS Bataan pass through the Suez Canal in 2007 on its way to Bahrain. The new 45-mile section will allow ships to pass for just under half of the 101-mile canal
A new Suez Canal running alongside the existing one could be completed within five years - though Egypt's president believes it could be finished in just 12 months
Mamish spoke at a conference in which President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is expected to announce a winning consortium to develop the project, which includes building an international industrial and logistics hub in the Suez Canal area.
He said the project would involve 21 miles of 'dry digging' and 22 miles would be 'expansion and deepening', indicating the current Suez Canal, which is 163 km (101 miles) long, could also be widened as part of the project.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2716945/Egypt-begin-work-second-Suez-Canal-run-alongside-original-145-year-old-waterway-five-years-time.html#ixzz39ZAHy2Ao
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