CAIRO: Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chairman Mohab Mamish officially called on international maritime navigation lines to use the New Suez Canal, scheduled to be inaugurated August 6.
In a press conference held Wednesday, Mamish assured the new canal is safe and well-prepared to receive the crossing ships. He added that with the new Suez Canal project inaugurated in August 6, vessels traffic in the waterway will be the fastest all over the world.
Present at the conference were International Chamber of Shipping Secretary-General Peter Hinchliffe along with representatives of several international maritime companies.
Mamish said that during the August 6 inauguration ceremony, the SCA will announce the inauguration of a new fish farming project. “By 2023, revenues from the Suez Canal will reach $13.4 billion.”
In previous remarks to reporters, Mamish said the works of leveling the bottom of the New Suez Canal would be completed Wednesday and all dredging machines will leave the canal Thursday.
“During the upcoming few hours, the stone pitching works of the 72km-long canal’s two sides will be completed,” he said.
The first trial run of the new canal was carried out July 25.
Egypt started Wednesday the operation of a floating bridge linking between the two banks of the Suez Canal, said Abdullah al-Zoughby, governor of Al Qantarah El Sharqiyya city.
The bridge will operate three hours daily starting at 11:00 a.m. (Cairo local time) to facilitate traffic between the two banks, Zoughby added, noting that operation of the bridge was approved by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi Tuesday.