When built the canal was 164 km long, 8 m deep, 53 wide and it allowed the transit of ships with a maximum draught of 6,7 m.

Today, after the expansion works ( made in 2010 ), it is 193,30 km long, 24 m deep, 205/225 m wide ( at 11 m depth and it allows the transit oh ships with a maximum draught of 20,12 m.

The Cairo government has announced the start of a huge enlargement work that will affect the most narrow part to avoid that in the 72 km long part the navigation will remain with just a single lane.

The partial doubling of the Suez Canal represents one third of value of a project of 12 billion dollars. Moreover, it will include tunnels, naval building sites, “service stations” for cargo vessels but also a resort for passengers. The parallel canal will reduce the waiting period of ships from 11 to 3 hours, decreasing the huge cost caused to ship owners due to delays and increasing the income of Egypt.

Thanks to the outbreak of trade on world scale and to the construction of container ships more and more big, also Suez had to conform with the new changes brought by innovation.

The challenge between Panama, Nicaragua and Suez to become the biggest Canal of the world goes on and on.