Word: canallers
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Beyond restoring the canal to its pre-June 1967 condition, Egypt faces a billion-dollar decision: whether or not to widen and deepen the waterway to accommodate the new larger ships, including some supertankers. The canal now can handle ships with a maximum draft of 38 ft.-70,000-ton craft carrying full loads of cargo and 140,000-tonners riding empty. An enlarged canal could take fully loaded ships with a draft of 71 ft. and a weight of 260,000 tons, or any ship now afloat empty...
...financing, will pay off with annual revenues from tolls of $600 million, compared with a pre-1967 income of $250 million a year. Egyptian officials claim that they will have no trouble raising the capital if they go ahead with the project. "We are already getting offers," says a Canal Authority executive...
Meanwhile, the repopulated canal zone cities are expected to take on their old color and bustle. Osman plans to make Port Said a free trading zone attractive to manufacturers from all over the world. Located on the Mediterranean at the mouth of the canal, Port Said offers a good climate and cheap labor (skilled factory workers make $6 a day). The government would allow raw materials to enter the zone and finished products to leave it with virtually no taxation. To the south, along the canal on Lake Timsah, Osman has dreams of building a $125 million tourist resort...
...Dole. New revenues from any of these projects would help to stabilize Egypt's economy, which for years has been wheezing along with the help of a dole from oil-rich friends, principally Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, to make up for the loss of canal fees. Furthermore, State Department officials argue that Egypt's investment of funds and manpower in reopening the canal might serve as a deterrent to future fighting around it. However, the Pentagon is somewhat less enthusiastic about the project. Military strategists point out that the reopening of the canal would give Soviet naval vessels...
...Silting is caused mainly by erosion of the canal banks as they are struck by waves from passing ships. With no traffic, there has been little erosion...