CAIRO — At the May 11 inauguration ceremony of a number of development projects at the Suez Canal Authority headquarters in Ismailia, attended by a number of top government officials, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced his approval of a project to expand the Suez Canal.

Canal authority chairman Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie, who presented the project to Sisi, said at the ceremony that the project aims to widen and deepen the southernmost 30-kilometer (18-mile) stretch of the waterway by 40 meters (130 feet) eastward. It also seeks to deepen the waterway from 66 feet to 72 feet and extend the second canal lane opened in 2015 by 10 kilometers (6 miles) southward, Rabie said.

The project will increase the Suez Canal capacity to three ships in each direction, Rabie added, noting that the project will ensure a better passage for ships in the waterway, which is where the 400-meter-long (1,310-foot) Ever Given vessel ran aground and took a week of towing and dredging to finally be freed back in March.

Speaking at the televised ceremony, Sisi said the project aims to improve the movement of ships in the southern stretch where the Ever Given was jammed; he expressed hope that the project would be completed in less than 24 months.