UPDATE | Egypt signs contract with 6 firms for dredging of new Suez Canal

Saturday 18-10-2014 06:27 PM
UPDATE | Egypt signs contract with 6 firms for dredging of new Suez Canal

An Egyptian boy works at the site of an upgrading project on the Suez Canal, in Ismailia port city, northeast of Cairo August 12, 2014. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

By

CAIRO (Reuters) - The Egyptian government has signed a contract with six international firms to carry out the dredging of the new Suez Canal, the head of the Suez Canal Authority said on Saturday.

The six companies, in a consortium named "Challenge Coalition", are National Marine Dredging Company of the United Arab Emirates; Royal Boskalis Westminster and Van Oord, both based in the Netherlands; Jan de Nul Group and Deme Group, both of Belgium; and U.S.-based Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company.

Work on the project will begin this week, said Lieutenant General Mohab Memish, head of the Suez Canal Authority. The project is scheduled to be completed by August 2015.

Memish did not provide any financial details of the contracts.

He announced the deal at a press conference attended by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahleb and thanked the armed forces for the dry digging work they had done since the new canal project was unveiled in August.

Memish said the Canal Authority would be responsible for dredging one of the project's six zones, while the contracted firms would dredge the remaining five.

The canal project includes the development of 76,000 sq km (29,000 sq miles) around the canal into an international industrial and logistics hub to attract more ships and generate income. The new canal is to be built along the existing 145-year-old waterway.

Egypt's central bank governor said last month the state had reached the $8.5 billion funding goal for the project, which it has financed through the issue of investment certificates in the domestic market.

facebook comments