Canal

Development Minister Adonis Georgiadis signed a 9-million-euro package for the studies and construction work necessary for the complete restoration of the sides of the iconic Corinth Canal in southern Greece which are prone to landslides that have led to the frequent barring of ships from passing through on public safety grounds. A new state of emergency was declared only a few days ago.

Work continued on Tuesday to restore the Corinth Canal after a rockfall earlier this month blocked the 6.4-km transit route used by ships and pleasure yachts. The waterway is expected to reopen on November 28. [Vasilis Psomas/ANA-MPA]

Work began Monday to raise a submersible bridge connecting the Peloponnese to the Greek mainland at the Corinth Canal. It has been out of use and underwater since early 2017. [ANA-MPA]

Participants in the "Swim the Canal" event take part in the race through the 6,346-meter-long Corinth Canal that separates the Peloponnese from mainland Greece, Tuesday. It was the first swimming race since the construction of the canal in 1893. The swimmers covered a distance of 6 kilometers. [Valerie Gache/AFP]

Participants in the "Swim the canal" race swim across the 6,346-meter long Corinth canal, near the city of Corinth, on Tuesday. [Valerie Gache/AFP]

An endeavor to legally define waterways is underway as part of efforts to realize a controversial project, dubbed "Kanal Istanbul," which aims to build a canal across Istanbul's European side to supplement the Bosphorus Strait. 

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.

Kanal Istanbul, one of the planned giant projects in the city?s pipeline pushed by the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, will be a canal 43 kilometers long and 400 meters wide with six bridges, according to sources.