EGYPT Made History again - opened new Suez Canal after just 1 yr of construction - all videos of inauguration and more inside

I said All Eyes on it because its a huge event, and a big deal. All the negative news always make it but never the positive. People on GLP here know me well enough that I would be the last person wanting something bad to happen, the contrary. But nice try to make it into a doom thread. No doom or any predictions here. Just world event news.

Last Edited by Bes Maat on 08/05/2015 06:27 PM

And because I'm proud of this Achievement!

Infograph: The new Suez Canal in numbers

[link to english.ahram.org.eg]

Picture with statistics on the link

Bes,

Thanks for all the great information, this is quite the project and most fascinating!

*5

^^^^ -

Thank you - I just want to spread awareness, I'm surprised (or not really) at the lack of western media coverage of this historical mega project.

Last Edited by Bes Maat on 08/05/2015 07:16 PM

On the eve of the inauguration of the new Suez Canal, Russia's PM Dmitry Medvedev gives an exclusive interview to Mohamed Abdel-Hady, the editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram Daily, on Russian-Egyptian bilateral relations, regional issues

Al-Ahram: The new Suez Canal waterway is a major achievement, one that is bound to benefit both the Egyptian economy and world trade. How would you assess the project? What part is Russia planning to play in the opening ceremony for the new waterway?

Dmitry Medvedev: The construction of the new Suez Canal waterway is a grand national project for Egypt and a significant event for the world's shipping industry. This route has been known since the days of antiquity. Today, its importance for international trade is no less great. It connects oceans and continents, making distances between countries shorter. I would say this is one of the symbols of the modern global world.

The Egyptians have shown genuine patriotism by responding to the call by the country's leadership to raise funds for the canal’s modernisation. The Egyptian engineers, who carried out very complicated work on the canal and in the area in just a year, deserve great respect as well. All this speaks to the fact that the project really enjoys both demand and broad public support.

The almost twofold increase in the canal’s throughput capacity and its ability to take large vessels will undoubtedly contribute to an increase in the overall volume of maritime trade. Over time, this will transform the appearance of the surrounding area of the canal. New economic zones will emerge along it, creating more points of growth for the Egyptian economy.

By the way, this year, Russia launched its own major project: the comprehensive development of the Northern Sea Route, the shortest route from Europe to the Asia-Pacific region. This is yet another way to optimise international freight traffic. I believe that the general benefits of such projects are obvious.

Russia is an old friend of Egypt. I have gratefully accepted the invitation to take part in the opening ceremonies for the new canal. I am accompanied by representatives of several Russian ministries and large companies that operate on the Egyptian market. I think this delegation is impressive, and will demonstrate our commitment to developing mutually beneficial cooperation.

The opening of the new Suez Canal is certainly a very important event for our country. But it is only one of the pieces of the multi-coloured mosaic of our bilateral relations. We have traditionally friendly relations. We share similar approaches to most international and regional issues. Russians have sincere respect for the Egyptian people, we love to travel to your country, and take great interest in its culture and history. I do believe that everyone must visit Egypt, the cradle of civilisation, at least once, to see its ancient monuments with their own eyes. But I must say that modern Egypt is no less interesting and dear to us.

I know there's an Arab saying: if things are good for your neighbour, they’re good for you too. Even though we do not have common borders, we are always happy for your achievements and successes.
[link to english.ahram.org.eg]

Looooong interview, because the guy likes to give long answers...but very interesting.

Multimedia from the official Government website, check it out - examples of tabs:

Photo Gallery everything from history, to stats and traffic
Video
Audio
Animation
Presentation

This could be helpful if anyone wants to do some work for college or University papers/essay

[link to www.suezcanal.gov.eg]

US Media Blackout! They are still pissed that Morsi never got a chance to merge Egypt and Libya under ISIS control.

Egypt is not what it used to be.

You know, it is interesting, that one of their cargo ships enroute from Saudi Arabia to Egypt Port Said was THE FIRST cargo vessel to go through the new Suez Canal a few days ago.

There was NOTHING in your news? It will have a great positive economical impact on the world economy, including the US.

Muslim b hood and Saudis still roaming a round city stars

It will be better and it already is in several ways since we got rid of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Why specifically there? Saudis have always been here, the hotels and airport are right there so many come for holidays or visits. I think also a lot of delegations and family members for the Opening Ceremony are here too at this time.

All I saw was a small story about IS threatening to kill a Croat hostage taken there. The story mentioned this as being something to darken the occasion of opening a "Suez Canal extension."

So they are only trying to taint and minimize the occasion.

Exactly

For those interested, I will paste the mention of the list of attendees tomorrow.

The list of international figures attending the ceremony of the new Suez Canal project, which Egypt's government describes as a national project that will boost the country's economy, includes dozens of Arab leaders, especially Gulf State leaders, as well as African country presidents and prime ministers, along with some high profile European delegations.


The most high profile European official attending the ceremony is France's President Francois Hollande, who confirmed his intention to take part earlier this week.

Hollande was designated the "Guest of Honor" at Thursday's event.


Ahram Online confirmed via the British Embassy in Cairo that Ambassador John Casson will attend the ceremony along with a top government official representing Prime Minster David Cameron.


Italy will send Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti in the wake of rising mutual cooperation between the two countries on the Libyan crisis and combating illegal immigration.

Egypt's cabinet said earlier this week that Russian President Vladimir Putin would attend the ceremony, but the Russian Novosti news agency reported late Tuesday that Prime Minster Dmitry Medvedev will attend in his place. "Medvedev is indeed here, Putin will not attend"


The US will be sending a congressional delegation as well as its ambassador in Cairo Stephan Beecfort.

In terms of Gulf countries, the two highest profile figures who will attending are the king of Bahrain, Hamed Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, and Kuwait's Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

The United Arab Emirates, whose National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC) was the lead company dredging and drilling the new Suez Canal, will send Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammed Bin Zayed, as well as Dubai's ruler and prime minister, Mohammed Bin Rashid.

Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman will be attending the ceremony.

Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi

King Abdullah of Jordan as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, Swiss Vice-President Johann Schneider-Ammann and Chinese Minister of Culture Leo Shugang.

North Korea's parliament speaker, Kim Yong Nam, is also attending the inauguration of Egypt's new Suez Canal project.
[link to english.ahram.org.eg]

edited to make less than 50%

Last Edited by Bes Maat on 08/05/2015 08:34 PM

VERY much agreed I'd say your future looks bright indeed if you can continue to stave off outside political influences and stay the course.

there may have been something, but I would not have seen it. No tv.

much more interested in your take on it, Bes Maat.

Awesome news!



Awesome Thread!

Thank you all and thanks for the PIN!

This is amazing - so thanks to the Dutch companies

[link to english.ahram.org.eg]

Picture of the day: Netherlands' Embassy in Egypt celebrates Dutch role in digging new Suez Canal

Dutch companies Boskalis and Van Oord, as part of a consortium of partners, dredged a record breaking 200 million m3 of sand, clay and rock in less than 9 months. By comparison, the Maasvlakte 2 project to expand the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands involved dredging 240 million m3 in three years.


WOW

I have NEVER seen anything like this - I don't even know if I can believe it.

Egypt's 'Surprise Train' heads to Alexandria to celebrate new Suez Canal opening

A "surprise train" launched by the Egyptian Railway Authority will move on Thursday morning at 7:20am from Ramses Station heading to Alexandria, Nagwa Albert, spokesperson for the Egyptian Railway Authority told Ahram Online.

However, on Wednesday morning, the Ministry of Transportation reported on their official Facebook page that the destination of the train will be a surprise. The destination will remain unknown to passengers until they arrive, adding that the train driver will be informed of the destination as the train starts to move, according to the statement.
[link to english.ahram.org.eg]

Egypt’s gift to the world

“Egypt’s gift to the world,” as it is being hailed by Egyptian outlets, is projected to boost receipts from the Suez Canal, a main source of foreign currency for Egypt, from $5.3 billion in 2014 to $13.2 billion in 2023.

Slashing transit times by seven hours and deepening the canal to accommodate ships with up to a 66 feet draft for the first time will attract more traffic from other global shipping routes, such as the Cape of Good Hope, Ashraf Salman, the Egyptian minister of investment projected in an announcement on Tuesday.

But the world may not be ready for Egypt’s gift, as world trade growth trends are unlikely to buttress a dramatic rise in traffic, argue some economists.

The projections “appear to be based on implausibly optimistic assumptions about world trade,” William Jackson, senior emerging markets economist at London-based Capital Economics said in an emailed statement.

When world trade value more than doubled in the first decade of the millennium, Suez Canal revenues also witnessed a more than twofold increase.

However, in order for Egypt to reach its revenue target from the new canal, global trade volume would need to rise by nine percent a year, higher than the three percent average seen over the past four years and the 7.5 percent average yearly growth seen during the boom years of 2003 to 2007, says Jackson.

“This seems unlikely,” he said.

“We are optimistic that world trade will pick up,” Yehia Rushdi, deputy director for planning and research at the Suez Canal Authority, told Ahram Online in a telephone interview when asked to comment on the government’s target.

The expansion of the canal “was a necessity to maintain the attractiveness of the Suez Canal,” Michael Storgaard, a spokesman for Maersk Line, the world’s biggest container shipping company, told Bloomberg.

Towards a bigger challenge

[link to english.ahram.org.eg]

Here come the negative minds - no denying there are huge challenges to achieve the goals, it's a very ambitious project, but just like nobody believed it could be done a year, why not give the benefit of the doubt? Or just for goodness sake, why do some always have to destroy the hopes of people by spreading their dry negative thoughts?

Going to make some Somali pirates very unhappy when part of the deeper draft ship traffic has an alternative to the Cape.

Shippers save much money by using !

Is it a second canal along side the original?

Thx for post and news

Yes, on the first post of the thread I updated it with a link to the Government site with pictures, statistics etc. It's 72km long canal, this allows two way now and cuts down from 22 to 11 hours for crossing. Also the old one was made deeper and there's plans for a second entrance, a 7.5km fork at Port Said.

Woohoo!

[link to www.bbc.com]

Only found it because of your thread. First I'd heard of it. Impressive.

Will they have balloons?