The Pros And Cons Of The Suez Canal

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Suez Canal Expansion
For or Against?
The Suez Canal is an Egyptian artificial waterway that connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea that officially opened in 1869. The canal reduces the journey between the North Atlantic and Indian oceans by approximately 7,000 kilometers. In 2014, the Suez Canal expansion project was launched to construct a new Canal from km 60 to km 95, and to deepen and widen the Great Bitter Lakes by-passes and Ballah by-pass. The expansion project was met with a lot of media buzz, and is still controversial to this day. Part of the controversy is due to the varying opinions around the project as some believe it to be successful, and believe in the future this project will secure for Egypt, and some simply view it as a “Delusion” that will never live up to the expectations of both the government and people of Egypt. However, the most compelling argument lies with the opposition as not only do they believe it to be a “Delusion”, but they also believe it to have negative economic and environmental impacts.
From an economic stand point, many agree that the project’s estimated revenues are unlikely to come to fruition. According to data compiled by Al-monitor media site, “The total number of ships that passed through the canal before the expansion amounted to 10,028, carrying a gross tonnage of 570,017 tons of cargo. Following the expansion, traffic increased to 10,062 ships, carrying a total tonnage of 574,553 tons of cargo. The total growth in