Egypt successfully tests new Suez Canal passage

MADRID Dec. 29 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Suez Canal Authority has announced that it has successfully completed operational tests of the new two-way crossing in the Bitter Lakes area, in the south of the artificial passage that connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean.

The president of the Authority, Usama Rabie, explained that two ships, the ‘Fu Xing Hai’ and the ‘Suvari Bei’, have passed through this new dredged passage between kilometers 122 and 132 of the canal, according to the state newspaper. Egyptian ‘Al Ahram’.

At the same time, four other ships have passed through the main route, located to the east of the new canal: the ‘Cosco Shipping Teng Da’, the ‘Mathilde Schilte’, the ‘Yangtze Alpha’ and the ‘Rui Fu Cheng’.

The new route has signaling buoys, two tugboats to guarantee traffic safety and highly trained channel pilots to guide the vessels, Rabie highlighted. It also improves navigation because it alleviates the effects of water and wind currents on boats.

With this expansion, the New Suez Canal, inaugurated in 2015, goes from 72 to 82 navigable kilometers, which increases the capacity of this section of the canal from 6 to 8 more ships per day – 55 to 75 ships in total – and options for managing emergencies.

These new facilities will begin to be used regularly as soon as updated navigation charts are issued that include the new track.