The progress of the Suez and Panama canals

The R99-billion project for widening the Suez Canal, started some 10 months ago, has entered its final phase, with the expanded canal due to open on August 6.

The new 72-kilometre waterway runs part of the way alongside the existing canal that connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, and involves 37 kilometres of dry digging and 35 kilometres of dredging operations to widen and deepen the existing canal.

Although the two canals do not directly compete, this opening date is around nine months ahead of the expansion of the Panama Canal - the 77.1-kilometre ship canal that connects the Atlantic Ocean (via the Caribbean Sea) to the Pacific Ocean.

The R65-bn project, started in 2006, consists of: A third set of locks; a Pacific access channel; the dredging of navigational channels; and improvements to water supply.

It will create a new lane of traffic along the canal, more than doubling the waterway’s capacity. The existing locks allow the passage of vessels that can carry up to 5 000 TEUs. After the expansion Post-Panamax vessels will be able to transit via the new locks, carrying up to 13 000 TEUs.

And last week, engineers began flooding the newly enlarged section, as authorities prepare to test the series of new locks.

The canal’s re-inauguration is currently slated for April, 2016.