Suez Canal Authority approves side channel project

The construction of a wide access channel to Port Said East, which will permit uninterrupted vessel traffic to the Suez Canal Container Terminal, officially received approval last week.    The construction of a wide access channel to Port Said East, referred to as the side channel project, was officially approved by the Head of the Suez Canal Authority Vice Admiral Mohab Mamish last Wednesday, APM Terminals said.
   The wide access channel will permit uninterrupted vessel traffic to the Suez Canal Container Terminal (SCCT).
   Vessels currently calling Port Said East are restricted to an eight-hour daily transit window due to convoy traffic on the canal.
   The channel will be 9.55 kilometers (5 miles) long, 17 meters (55 feet) deep and 250 meters (820 feet) wide. The $36 million project is expected to be completed within seven months and SCCT will provide $15 million towards construction.
   The side channel project is part of the Suez Canal Development Project, which included the opening of an expanded section of the Suez Canal this past August. The expansion permits two-way traffic along the 163-kilometer (101-mile) long canal, which links the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
   The terminal will receive four additional super post-Panamax cranes in mid-2016, APMT said this past August. SCCT will then be equipped to handle 5.4 million TEUs each year.
   SCCT shareholders include APMT (55 percent), COSCO Pacific (20 percent), Suez Canal Authority and Affiliates (10.3 percent), National Bank of Egypt (5 percent) and Egyptian private sector investors (9.7 percent).