Egypt Setting Up Police Force to Protect Suez

zoom A new police department tasked with protection of the Suez Canal is being set up in Egypt amid growing threats to the safety of ships transiting the canal. Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim will assume releasing decisions managing the new department, writes the Cairo Post. Further details on the mode and start of operation have not been disclosed yet. The announcement comes in the aftermath of attack on an Egyptian Navy patrol boat near the Suez which caught and destroyed the attacking vessels and apprehended the perpetrators. Cairo wants to make sure that the canal, the main source of its revenue, remains safe as it invests further in its extension. The New Suez Canal will partially run in parallel to the current waterway and entail widening and deepening of existing parts thereof. Dredging works on the extension are already in full swing. Construction of a second 76 km long waterway parallel to the existing canal is scheduled to be completed by August. The canal revenues in 2014 reached USD 5.45 billion, an increase of 6.8 % when compared to the figures from 2013. The canal closed the year with a total of 962.7 million tonnes that transited the canal. World Maritime News Staff