By
Ismailia,
Marking the occasion, Lt. Gen.
"Today is a day to remember the victories and challenges, as well as the sacrifices and all (the efforts) the Egyptians gave in the name of the canal," Rabie said during the ceremony.
Among those making sacrifices, the general noted, were the "100,000 martyrs" who lost their lives in 1869 during the construction of the canal, the shortest maritime route linking
Some 10 percent of the world's maritime trade passes through the canal and its share of the world's commerce has constantly been increasing, Rabie said.
He boasted of the records set by the canal following its most recent expansion, which was completed in 2015 to shorten the crossing time and allow bigger ships to navigate the waterway.
The canal, one of
Despite the increase, the figures are far from being at the pace necessary to reach the goal of
A total of
Run by the Suez Canal Authorities, the new canal provides a two-way maritime route.
More than 70,000 vessels have gone through the canal since the expansion, officials said.
The income generated by the canal after the expansion "does not go along the path with which (the Egyptian government) justified the expansion,"
"Those numbers never made sense," Kaldas said.
Authorities, meanwhile, praised the project, announcing that 81 6.1-ton vessels went through the canal on
The waterway is not equipped to handle large tankers with a capacity of more than 300,000 tons, given that the heaviest vessel that navigated the canal displaced 240,000 tons, Madani said.
Madani said that if a vessel exceeds the weight limit, it may sink too much and will be forced to unload "almost half of its oil" in the SUMED (Suez-Mediterranean) pipeline.
The pipeline flows into western
"It would see much more activity if they dredged it in more depth and allowed the large oil tankers fully loaded to navigate," Madani said, adding that "there is more oil sailing" through
"That's why a lot of vessels prefer to go around
The idea of connecting the
It was not until
De Lesseps also founded the
Since then, the
Canal operations returned to normal in 1975, when Egyptian troops took control of the waterway's eastern shore.
© 2019 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc., source