First ENCs for Suez Canal produced
The Egyptian Naval Hydrographic Department (ENHD) has, in collaboration with the International Centre for Electric Navigation Charts (IC-ENC), produced its first 12 ENCs covering the waters of the Suez Canal.
The charts, which were also produced with help from the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), are of both the old and new canals with a 35km second channel, replacing the existing Admiralty charts for the region. From now on, no vessels will be permitted to pass through Suez Canal, which opened earlier this month, unless they are carrying the new charts.
Global Navigation Solutions (GNS), the maritime services group, has been named supplier of all new charts for the Suez Canal.
Ships can now sail in both directions between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, and is expected to lead to an immediate doubling in the capacity of the Suez Canal from 49 to 97 ships per day.
The expansion cost US$8bn and involved 12 months of dredging using 45 dredgers, which has resulted in the removal of approximately 250 million cubic meters of soil. Previously a single lane, the canal can now facilitate traffic in two directions in almost 45% of its length, thus reducing transit time from 18 hours to 11 hours. As a result, waiting times have been minimised to just three hours, allowing the transit of 45 vessels in two directions, and increasing the maximum permissible vessel draft to 66ft throughout the canal.
By Rachael Doyle
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