WORK on the channel being built parallel to the Suez Canal was brought to an abrupt halt in the early hours of Monday after a section of one of the sedimentation basins partially collapsed. According to Mohab Mameesh, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, the collapse took place due to the strong flow of water coming from a giant dredging machine, which also caused two empty vessels anchored nearby to go adrift. No deaths or injuries were reported as a result of the incident, and navigation in the Suez Canal was not interrupted. The Suez Canal, an artificial waterway that connects the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, is being expanded, with the project due for completion by August 2015. Late last week it was announced that the first phase of the dry digging of the new channel has been completed. On Wednesday, the UK's minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Tobias Ellwood, accompanied by British businessmen, inspected the new canal. The project is expected to double the Suez Canal's revenues by 2023, according to official estimates. In 2012-2013, the canal generated some $5.2 billion in revenues.
