More than $6.8 billion in bonds earmarked to fund the first expansion of the Suez Canal in its 145-year history have sold out in just 10 days, according to officials from the Central Bank of Egypt, the bonds’ issuer.
The money will be used to fund a country project that will nearly double the capacity of the canal, which links the Red Sea with the Mediterranean. The expansion project is schedule to be completed by 2023.
Currently, the Suez Canal is the primary waterway connecting the Indian Ocean with the Atlantic. But in some parts it is so narrow that vessels are not able to pass through in either direction at the same time. Waiting times for ships seeking to pass through the canal are an average of 11 hours.
The widening of the canal hopes to cut or even eliminate those wait times. A separate project which would create a completely new waterway that would run parallel to the canal’s 45-mile course is expected to be completed next year.
While the improved canal will be wider, there currently are no plans to make it any deeper. That means that super tankers carrying crude oil to the West from the Middle East and the huge Panamax cargo carrier ships — which currently are being used to carry much of the freight between Asia and North America — still will not be able to pass through it.