Plans for Suez Canal to be widened, deepened in stretch where Ever Given cargo ship got stuck
The narrow section of the Suez Canal that was accidentally blockaded when the Ever Given cargo ship became stuck will be expanded and deepened, according to plans announced by the Egyptian government.
Key points:
- The canal will become 40 metres wider at the area where the Ever Given became stuck
- The global traffic jam caused by the Ever Given lasted for six days
- The ship remains held in the Suez Canal six weeks after the crisis
The plan was announced six weeks after the Ever Given ran aground on both banks of the canal, leading to a global trade crisis.
The ship remained lodged askew for days, blocking one of the world's most important trade routes, before being refloated.
The global traffic jam it created captured the world's attention, and inspired a wave of memes making fun of the ship's unfortunate predicament.
Since being dislodged, the vessel has been held in the canal's Great Bitter Lake, amid a financial dispute between its owners and the Suez Canal Authority.
Under the Egyptian government's proposal, the canal's southernmost stretch will be widened by about 40 metres on its eastern side, and made about 2.5 metres deeper.
That part of the canal is 30 kilometres long.
The plan also includes a 10-kilometre extension of a second lane of the waterway that opened in 2015.
That change would bring the double-lane stretch of the canal to 82 kilometres, allowing more vessels to pass through the canal.
The artificial Suez Canal is the gateway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, and provides a shortcut around Africa for global trade routes.
The Ever Given's six-day blockage of the canal meant some ships were forced to take the long alternate route around the Cape of Good Hope at Africa's southern tip.
Hundreds of others waited in place for the blockage to end.
About 10 per cent of world trade flows through the canal, and some 19,000 vessels passed through the canal last year, according to official figures.
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