埃及新宝:新苏伊士运河开通

Egypt's new treasure

某种程度上,巴拿马地峡的迅猛发展及北海航线的广泛宣传更吸引注意力,2015年8月6日,新苏伊士运河正式通航,这是埃及的杰出工程壮举,历时超过11个月提前完工,随着第一艘船驶过,新苏伊士运河在历史上首次实现了船舶南北双向航道同时通航。

Somewhat eclipsed by the spectacular developments in the Isthmus of Panama and even the publicity surrounding transits on the Northern Sea Route, the 'new' Suez Canal has opened to shipping. In every sense it is an astonishing feat of engineering, with the first ships making their transit ahead of schedule and just over 11 months after the excavations to provide a 'dual waterway' commenced. While the Suez Canal has been regularlydeepened and navigation improved in the 145 years since transits began, the $8bn improvement programme has been designed to halve the transit time from an average of some 22 hours to 11 hours. The programme, reduced from its initial three years to just one by order of presidential decree saw more than 200 million cubic metres of sand excavated along the 72 km route.Egypt, and indeed the teams of contractors, can be justifiably proud of the hugely improved waterway, which will end the practice of convoys of ships having to wait mid canal for ships going in the opposite direction to pass. The canal is, however, just one part of a major scheme for a massive industry and logistics hub to bring development and employment to the region. The strategic implications of this from a commercial potential are seen to be massive, with the location being so favourable to such developments. The Canal, which earns some $5bn annually from its existing transits and trade, hopes to be in a position to triple this in the medium term, amply justifying the costs of the massive investment. With the enlarged Panama Canal due to come on stream next year, there is a certain fascination in projecting how international shipping will adjust to the opportunities of two 'new' major waterways appearing on the scene within a few months of one another. True, the savings from a Suez transit may be less than half a day, but this of course matters and quickly adds up with repeated transits.