In video: Sissi attends the inauguration of the new maritime units of the Suez Canal, the Olympic Village – Urban and transport – Egypt

The village, which was established on a total area of ​​350,000 square meters, includes sports stadiums, swimming pools and a sports health club which houses a gym, sauna and jacuzzi, said Mohamed Anani, general supervisor of the CAS Olympic Village project.

The village also contains a set of multiple courts for handball, basketball and volleyball practice, in addition to a speedball court. Its covered main hall can accommodate approximately 2,300 spectators, is fully air-conditioned and contains four changing rooms and a VIP room.

The SCA stadium has a capacity of approximately 21,000 people and is equipped to receive determined people.

The stadium was built and designed in accordance with the requirements of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

The new stadium also houses a hotel suite containing 60 hotel beds as well as an 850 square meter health club.

Following his inspection of the Olympic Village, President El-Sissi boarded one of the authority’s yachts to inaugurate a number of new maritime units for the SCA, including two new units affiliated with the SCA’s dredging department. .

President Sissi also attended the inauguration of the Azima 1 and Azima 2 locomotives as well as the Karama 1 and Karama 2 ferries, which will be used to move people.

The President also attended the inauguration of the Luxor 1 and Luxor 2 ferries and witnessed the launch of two yachts, which will join the SCA fleet.

The President’s inauguration of the Olympic Village as well as new maritime units is an affirmation that the international waterway is a symbol of national pride for Egypt, said SCA President Osama Rabie.

For more than 150 years, great achievements have taken place in the Suez Canal, which is one of the most important waterways in the world, he added.

Record turnover and development projects

During the inauguration ceremony, El-Sissi said that the SCA had made huge income despite the global recession and the Covid-19 epidemic.

Canal revenues exceed the cost of digging the new canal, El-Sisi said, recalling the broad debate that emerged after the inauguration of the Suez Canal expansion project in 2015.

In 2015, El-Sissi inaugurated the new Suez Canal in a ceremony attended by French, Russian, Arab and African leaders. The new canal waterway is 35 km long and runs parallel to the old passage. Some 37 km of the existing canal has also been deepened and widened, bringing the total to 72 km of two-way traffic.

The president denounced all attempts to undermine the morale of Egyptians, citing the huge revenues made by the SCA.

SCA’s income was between 4.8 and 5 billion dlrs, but is now between 5.5 and 7 billion dlrs, he said, adding that SCA’s income has greatly exceeded the amount collected for widening the course of the waterway.

The Suez Canal is one of Egypt’s main sources of foreign currency which generated record revenue of $7 billion in fiscal year 2021/22, compared to $5.8 billion in the last year, according to SCA figures.

In August 2022, the canal at sea level recorded its highest monthly revenue of $744.8 million, in addition to the highest monthly transit of 2,125 vessels.

About 12% of world trade passes through the main international waterway – the fastest artery between Europe and Asia, according to Rabie.

Meanwhile, the President pointed out that the ongoing Suez Canal projects – which aim to expand and develop the waterway – are implemented and funded by the authority’s revenues, noting that the new canal has contributed to increase revenue and the number of ships crossing the waterway.

As part of the regular efforts to increase the efficiency of the Suez Canal infrastructure with the aim of preserving its strategic status, directives have been issued to launch the implementation of an ambitious development plan for the southern sector of the channel navigation. , says Rabie.

The development included the construction of four new ponds, he said, adding that around six million square meters have been dredged.

About the expansion project, Rabie said the development work included increasing the efficiency of 10 sediment ponds and increasing the capacity to 145 million square meters.

SCA is keen to localize domestic industry and strengthen the manufacture of maritime units that can serve the shipping movement at the Suez Canal, Rabie said.

In accordance with the directives issued by El-Sisi, the SCA has manufactured a number of maritime units, Rabie said, adding that the president inaugurated up to 42 maritime units last year, and 16 new maritime units will join the fleet. of the SCA in the coming period.

El-Sisi said the final dredging and expansion operations of the Suez Canal should be finalized in mid-2023 to achieve the hoped-for goals for the expansion of the two-way section of the international waterway.

In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, SCA chief Osama Rabie said the authority’s ongoing project aims to create a dual zone in the region from the 122-132 kilometer marks of the canal, adding 10 kilometers to the new Suez Canal, increasing its length. 82 kilometers instead of 72 kilometers. The project also includes the expansion and deepening of the Suez Canal navigation from the 132 kilometer mark of the canal south of the salt lakes to the 162 kilometer mark of the canal at the Suez exit of the waterway. The new two-lane project will improve navigation in the canal and increase its capacity to carry another six vessels.

This follows presidential approval issued in May 2021 for the plan to widen and deepen 40 kilometers of the waterway, including the part that witnessed the 400-meter-long Ever Given crisis in March when she blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week.

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