New channel to allow 24-hour access to Suez Canal Container Terminal

Egypt’s Port Said will soon be able to allow vessels 24-hour access to its container terminal thanks to the recent approval of a new access channel that will allow vessels to bypass traffic waiting to pass through the Suez Canal.

Vice Admiral Mohab Mamish, head of the Suez Canal Authority, approved plans to construct a new 5-mile channel into Port Said East. The channel will be 55 feet deep and 820 feet wide.

The project will give vessel traffic better access to the Suez Canal Container Terminal, which is one of the busiest container handling centers on the Mediterranean Sea. Currently, vessels can enter and leave the container port only eight hours a day because of traffic passing through the Suez Canal.

The $36 million project is slated for completion before the end of 2016, with a project timeline of seven months.

The new channel is just one element of the larger Suez Canal Development Project, which opened a significantly wider canal in August. The widened canal allows vessels to travel both ways along the more than 100-mile-long Suez Canal - a move that was lauded by many of the world’s largest shipping companies.

Suez Canal Container Terminal Managing Director Klaus Holm Laursen said the new channel will revolutionize the port’s capabilities.

“We are proud to be a part of this newest infrastructure project which reinforces Egypt’s major role as a facilitator in global trade and logistics, and we salute the Egyptian government’s foresight and ongoing dedication to economic growth and development,” Laursen said.