Admiral Mohab Mamish, Head of the Suez Canal Authority, inaugurated the port of East Port Said's side channel on Wednesday, after trial runs successfully passed through the channel earlier this week. The new canal aims to allow larger ships in and out of the port. Mamish said that about 45m cubic meters of sand were dredged over three months. The new channel is 9.5km long and 18m deep. He added that the new channel will raise the classification of the East Port Said Port and increase the capacity of the port. He noted that the objective of the canal is to reduce the waiting period, which is currently at an average of up to 10 hours, which will help to increase the number of ships coming in and out to the port. The Suez Canal Authority began digging the side channel in November and finished its work in February.
