Egypt opens major expansion of the Suez Canal deepening main waterway

Egypt has opened a major expansion of the Suez Canal, which deepens the main waterway and provides ships with a 35km channel parallel to it. At the inauguration, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi welcomed foreign leaders aboard a historic yacht as helicopters and fighter jets flew by. The expansion aims to increase the traffic handled by the canal. Egypt's government hopes the revenues will revive the economy - but analysts have questioned the projections.They point out that the volume of world trade has not been growing at the pace needed to deliver the sums Egypt hopes to collect. The expansion will allow for two-way traffic along part of the route, as well as for larger vessels overall. Security was tightened for the inauguration ceremony amid fears of attack by militants allied to Islamic State. The original canal currently handles 7% of global sea-borne trade. The waterway connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, providing the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe. Its nationalisation led to a brief war in 1956, pitting Egypt against the UK, France and Israel.