The digging process for the Suez Canal's new waterway is moving ahead of schedule according to Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, Mohab Mamish. "Sixty out of the 140 cubic meters of digging by the military have been completed,” Mamish said during the European Arab Strategic Partnership conference that was organised by Al-Ahram Establishment. Memish added that dredging had begun on day 36 instead of day 91. Egypt announced in August an expansion of the Suez Canal through a new 35 km waterway that will be completed by the military through "dry digging." This is in addition to a 37 km expansion and deepening of the existing waterway to support large ships. During the opening ceremony of the project, Egypt's president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ambitiously announced that digging for the parallel waterway will be completed by mid-2015 – an advance from the three-year timeframe previously announced for the project. According to Mamish the work is on track to be finalised next summer as promised. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/113254.aspx