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The blockade of the Suez Canal by the beached container ship Ever Given has prompted new international efforts to find an alternative to the world’s most important maritime corridor.
UN officials are understood to be reviewing plans to build a new canal along the Egypt-Israel border, having previously dismissed ideas of a much longer route through Iraq and Syria as too dangerous.
The blockade of the Suez Canal is estimated to have cost hundreds of millions of pounds, as well as threatening Europe’s vital supply chains from Asia, bringing everything from toilet paper and iPhones to takeout and PPE.
The UN had previously commissioned a feasibility study from the international tunneling company OFP Lariol, which estimated that “Suez 2” could be dredged in five years.
The canal would run almost straight into the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea.
“Technology has advanced considerably since the excavation of the first canal in the 1850s,” said study author Iver Shovel.
“A separate problem is the slight drop in sea level in the Mediterranean that can occur once we flood the new channel, which could lead to wider and longer beaches.”
The Foreign Ministry said it was aware of the plans, which are being monitored by the UN committee for Trade Routes Uniting Economies.
The sources said the UK would be prepared to play a leading role in any project to help “level the region and rebuild better”.
“We have the experience and could share our preliminary designs for the proposed tunnel links to Northern Ireland,” said an official, also pointing to the prime minister’s successful track record in large-scale infrastructure projects.
Another alternative the UN is considering is recreating an ancient passage to the Nile from the Red Sea.
“It’s an exciting idea,” said Mo Sez, a regional water division management expert whose staff is managing a feasibility study of the area.
Although maritime engineers have warned that the river would not have the capacity for 20,000 container “mega-ships” like the Ever Given, moving freight to smaller fleets could offer a modern solution.
Felucca operators could carry up to 28% of Suez’s cargo volumes, or less. The camel trains would be on standby if the water levels in the Nile fell.
When asked if such a scheme was still feasible, a spokesperson said: “See those pyramids? We build them, right?
