Name and Location
New Suez Canal project, Cairo, Egypt.

Client
Suez Canal Authority (SCA).

Project Description
The Suez Canal is currently only wide enough for ships to travel in one direction, with a few places allowing for two-way traffic.

The new 72 km Suez Canal will run alongside the existing channel, allowing for permanent two-way operation along a section of the canal’s 193 km length. The new canal will double the current daily ship capacity and allow for the simultaneous transit of north- and southbound vessels.

The new canal will partially run in parallel to the current waterway and partially entail the widening and deepening of the waterways.

Value
$8.4-billion.

Duration
The project will begin later this year and is expected to be completed in 2015.

Latest Developments
The first cargo ships passed through Egypt's New Suez Canal on July 25 in a test run before it opens next month, according to State news agency Mena, 11 months after the army began building the $8-billion canal alongside the existing 145-year-old Suez Canal.

The new waterway, which President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hopes will help expand trade along the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia, will be formally inaugurated on August 6, 2015.

Three container ships crossed the new waterway – an American ship heading to Egypt's Port Said from Saudi Arabia, a Danish ship sailing to the US from Singapore, and a Bahraini ship going to Italy from Saudi Arabia.

The exercise took place amid tight security. An insurgency based in the Sinai Peninsula, which borders on the Suez Canal, has killed hundreds of soldiers and police since 2013. State television said there were helicopters circling above and showed naval vessels escorting the ships.

The existing Suez canal earns Egypt an estimated $5-billion a year. The New Suez Canal is expected to increase revenues to $15-billion by 2023.

It should also reduce navigation time for ships from about 22 hours to 11 hours, making it the fastest waterway of this kind in the world.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Royal Boskalis Westminster, Van Oord, NMDC and Jan de Nul (canal expansion) Dredging International and Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company (deepening and widening).

On Budget and on Time?
Yes.

Contact Details for Project Information
Suez Canal Authority, tel +2 064 3393950 or +2 064 3392823.
Royal Boskalis Westminster investor relations Martijn Schuttevâer, email ir@boskalis.com.
Van Oord, Robert de Bruin, tel +31 88 8268234 or email robert.debruin@vanoord.com.
DEME, Ann Wittemans, tel +32 3 210 67 94 or email wittemans.ann@deme-group.com.