Egypt's Suez Canal expansion plan raises some questions

Egypt’s ambitious multi-billion-dollar plan, which could nearly double the waterway’s capacity to 97 passing ships a day by 2023, has been largely welcomed by shipping industry executives and economists, albeit with some skepticism.

Sure, the expansion will help relieve bottlenecks. The Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, can mostly only facilitate one-way traffic–either ships heading north or south–as it is too narrow at some points for vessels to cross both ways. The new canal is expected to solve this problem, cutting the waiting time for ships to three hours from 11 hours.

The waterway, however, won’t be deepened to allow fully-laden supertankers, which usually lighten their load–mostly crude oil–before passing through the canal, or do a much longer journey around Cape Agulhas in South Africa.

And can Egypt finish the project on schedule, and how will the cash-strapped country fund it?