Suez Canal Authority

Egypt said on July 29 that the "new Suez Canal" was ready for navigation for all kinds of ships, as authorities geared up to launch the shipping route officially next month.

The first cargo ships passed through Egypt's New Suez Canal on July 25 in a test-run before it opens next month, state media reported, 11 months after the army began constructing the $8 billion canal alongside the existing 145-year-old Suez Canal. 

Egypt will inaugurate a "new Suez canal" shipping route in August aimed at speeding up traffic along the existing waterway and boosting revenues, officials said June 13.

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.