After much competition to begin work on the next phase of the Suez Canal, a European consortium has won a US$1.5 billion contract to start the next phase of the canal’s expansion.
The contract is the latest in a series of announcements made by the Egyptian government, who previously claimed that the Suez Canal was delay-prone and thus needed to be expanded.
The expansion will include a new 45-mile channel which will allow ships to simultaneously transit in two directions, it will also partially widen and deepen existing sections, according to the Journal of Commerce.
US$8.5 billion was raised for the project by Egypt’s own citizens through a sale of investment certificates.
The winning consortium consists of Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V., Van Oord, NMDC, and Jan de Nul.
The project will begin in 2014 and is expected to be completed in 2015.