ISMAILIA, April 6 - Suez Canal Chairman Osama Rabie told Reuters on Tuesday an expansion of the southern section of the waterway where the massive container ship Ever Given became stranded was under consideration.

The authority is also looking into procuring the kinds of cranes that could potentially offload cargo at heights of up to 250 metres (820 ft) for these kinds of emergencies, Rabie said.

"Our procedures are sound, we are just aiming to improve the service," Rabie said.

(Reporting by Nadeen Ebrahim and Patrick Werr in Ismailia, additional reporting by Mahmoud Mourad in Cairo; Writing by Nadine Awadalla; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Philippa Fletcher)