Since its completion 145 years ago, the Suez Canal has made it easier for ships to travel between Europe and Asia without going around the southern tip of Africa. An extra shipping lane, announced by Egypt's President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi on Aug. 5, will make the journey more efficient, the Guardian reports.
Today ships can only travel in one direction through the canal. A new 45-mile lane will provide travel in both directions for a little less than half of the 101-mile long canal.
"This giant project will be the creation of a new Suez canal parallel to the current channel," said Mohab Mamish, the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority.
President Sisi wants the channel completed within a year, but the project could take up to five years to finish. It's also uncertain whether the expansion will help speed up the canal's operations, Angus Blair, a Cairo-based analyst who has followed the project's development, told the Guardian.
"They are only increasing capacity in a part of the canal, so the merits of it still have to be weighed up," Blair said. "They are essentially turning a motorway into a single carriageway halfway through."
The project will cost an estimated $4 billion dollars. The canal earns Egypt about $5 billion a year and the new channel will boost annual revenues to $13.5 billion by 2023, an official with the Suez Canal Authority told Reuters.
Egypt depends on the canal's revenue now more than ever since its tourism and foreign investments have crumbled, due to the country's civil unrest that has occurred since the 2011 uprising.
The country also plans to expand port and shipping facilities around the canal with hopes to raise Egypt's international profile and establish it as a major trade hub, according to Reuters.
"The strategic location of Egypt and the canal is a key advantage...being a key point where cargo can be distributed or worked on. This hubbing concept is extremely valuable," Neil Davidson, senior adviser for ports and terminals at London-based Drewry Maritime Research, told Reuters.
Egypt's former President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the canal in 1956. Pro-government media have made comparisons between Sisi and Nasser, who oversaw many big infrastructure projects during his 14 years in office.
