01 Apr 2021; MEMO: UN officials are reviewing plans to build a new canal along the Egypt-Israel border following the week-long blockage caused by the grounded cargo ship Ever Given, the Guardian has reported.
Hundreds of ships were caught in a bottleneck on the Suez Canal after a Panamanian vessel, the Ever Given, ran aground on Tuesday last week.
Clothes, live animals and PPE were all caught in huge delays whilst authorities worked to free the ship, which was the size of four football fields.
The new canal, 'Suez 2', would run into the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea and could take five years to build.
The UK has said it is prepared to take a leading role and that the Foreign Office is aware of the plans, which are being overseen by the UN committee for Trade Routes Uniting Economies.
A route through Iraq and Syria was disregarded as being hazardous whilst another alternative could see the Nile connected to the Red Sea.
The Suez Canal is the shortest route between Europe and Asia through which $9.6 billon worth of trade passes through every day.
However, since the Ever Given got stuck on the vial waterway, it has brough global trade to a near standstill and other countries have come forward with suggestions for alternative routes.
Earlier this week the Iranian Ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, proposed a shipping lane to pass through Iran.
According to Anadolu Agency, Iran has for years promoted a north-south trade corridor connecting India to Russia and passing through Iran as a more viable alternative to the Suez Canal.
