이집트, 40억불 규모 또하나의 '수에즈 운하' 건설한다 Egypt plans to dig new Suez Canal costing $4 billion VIDEO

 

 

 

Suez Canal

 

The Suez Canal shortens sea voyages

 

[VIDOE]

Suez Canal, Egypt - Southbound passage through the Suez Canal HD (2013)
 


이집트 정부는 늘어나는 물동량을 소화하기 위해 145년 역사의 기존의 수에즈 운하노선을 따라 또하나의 운하를 건설할 것으로 알려졌다.

 

이집트 정부는 수에즈운하로 년 50억불을 벌어들이는데 2011년 이후로 외국인 투자와 관광객들이 감소한 상황에서 하나의 큰 재원의 역활을 해왔다.

 

제2수에즈 운하는 수에즈항과 선적시설 등을 확장하는 대형국가프로젝트로 국가적 면모를 일신하고 주요 무역허브역활을 위해서 추진되었으며 100만명이상의 일자리 창출 등 경제활성화에도 기여할 것으로 보고있다.
 
이 사업은 기존 운하를 따라서 총 길이 72km로 건설되고 40억불의 사업비가 소요될 것으로 예상되며 착수 후 5년내에 완성하는 것으로 계획되어 있다.

 

최근에 취임한 전 국방장관인 압델 파타 엘시시 이집트대통령은 군대에 의한 철저한 보안경비와 자국의 20개 이집트건설사와 관련회사들은 군인들의 감독아래 안전하게 건설될 것이라 말했다.

 

선거 후에도 무슬림형제단과 대선에 불참운동을 벌였던 무르시 전 대통령 지지자들은 군부 정권 반대 시위를 지속하겠다는 뜻을 밝혀 건설공사의 안전문제를 보장하기 위해 취해진 조치이다.

 

비공개로 입찰이 진행된 제2수에즈사업은 올 1월에 14개의 컨소시엄을 초청하여 세계적 건설사인 달알 한다사와 이집트 육군을 포함한 컨소시엄을 시공자로 선정했다.

 

하지만 어려운 나라 살림에 재정 마련을 어떻게 할지 이슈가 주목되고 있다.

 

황기철 @conpaper

 

 

 

A fisherman travels on a boat with his family across the Suez canal near Ismailia port city,

northeast of Cairo May 1, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

 

 

By Oliver Holmes and Stephen Kalin

CAIRO Tue Aug 5, 2014 6:45am EDT

 

(Reuters) - Egypt plans to build a new Suez Canal alongside the existing 145-year-old historic waterway in a multi-billion dollar project aimed at expanding trade along the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

 

The Suez Canal earns Egypt about $5 billion a year in revenues, a vital source of hard currency for a country that has suffered a slump in tourism and foreign investment since its 2011 uprising.

 

The new channel, part of a larger project to expand Suez port and shipping facilities, aims to raise Egypt's international profile and establish it as a major trade hub.

  
 "This giant project will be the creation of a new Suez Canal parallel to the current channel of a total length of 72 kilometers (44.74 miles)," Mohab Mamish, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, told a conference in Ismailia, a port town on the Canal. His comments were broadcast by state television.

 

He said the total estimated cost of drilling the new channel would be about $4 billion and be completed in five years, though Egypt will strive to finish it within a more ambitious three-year deadline.

 

The original canal, which links the Mediterranean and Red Seas, took 10 years of intense and generally poorly-paid work by Egyptians, who according to the Canal Authority, were drafted at the rate of 20,000 every 10 months from "the peasantry".

 

It took weeks if not months off journeys between Europe and Asia, otherwise necessitating a trip round the tip of Africa.

 

Egyptian President Adel Fattah al-Sisi, a former army chief, said the armed forces would be in charge of the new project for security reasons. Up to 20 Egyptian firms could be involved in the project but would work under military supervision, he said.

 

Last year, Sisi orchestrated the ouster of elected Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and oversaw a massive crackdown on Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood.

 

This was followed by a rise in violence from Islamist militants based in the Sinai peninsula, which has stoked some concern about the security of the nearby Suez Canal. The government has since been fighting militants in an ongoing military campaign in which hundreds have died on both sides.

 

Any disruption to shipping along the canal tends to have a serious impact on trade and oil prices.

 

“Sinai to a large degree has a sensitive status. The army is responsible to Egypt for this,” said Sisi, who has previously said he would not hesitate to award major projects to help revive Egypt's battered economy to the army.


Sisi's allies and supporters have likened him to Gamal Abdel Nasser, the charismatic colonel who led a coup against the monarchy in 1952, set up an army-led autocracy and rounded up thousands of Muslim Brothers.

 

In 1956, Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, leading to a failed invasion by Britain, which controlled the channel, as well as France and Israel. Nasser was praised by Egyptians for pursuing several big projects during his 14 years as president.

 

Pro-government Egyptian media did not hesitate to compare the Suez expansion plans to Nasser's own state-led infrastructure projects that were a source of national pride.

 

Egypt has planned for years to develop 76,000 square kilometers (29,000 square miles) around the canal to attract more ships and generate more income.

 

Sisi said the new canal was an unannounced part of that project, which Egypt invited 14 consortia to bid for in January.

 

Reuters reported on Sunday that Egypt had chosen a consortium including global engineering firm Dar al-Handasah, as well as the Egyptian army, to develop the area.

 

A promotional video played at the launch event suggested the project would cut waiting times for vessels and allow ships to pass each other on the canal.

 

Mamish, the chairman, said the project would involve 35 kilometers (22 miles) of "dry digging" and 37 kilometers (23 miles) would be "expansion and deepening", indicating the current Suez Canal, which is 163 km (101 miles) long, could be widened as part of the project. Among the bidders, according to Egypt's Al Mal newspaper, were a group including state-run Arab Contractors and James Cubitt and Partners, an international consultancy firm. Another included the McKinsey & Co global management consulting firm. Gulf allies Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait donated more than $12 billion in cash and petroleum products to Egypt after the army overthrew Mursi. But Egypt remains in dire need of longer-term investments.


(Additional reporting by Ahmed Tolba, editing by Lin Noueihed/Jeremy Gaunt)

 

[Main page]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/05/us-egypt-suezcanal-project-idUSKBN0G50OH20140805

Reuters

 

 

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