GNS supplies New Suez charts

Egypt will open the New Suez Canal on Thursday 6 August 2015 and Global Navigation Solutions (‘GNS’), the maritime services group, is named as supplier of all new charts for the Suez Canal.

The Egyptian authorities (Suez Canal Authority and Egyptian Navy Hydrographic Department) have produced new charts of both the Old and New Canals, replacing the existing Admiralty charts for the region, and they have advised that no vessels will be permitted to pass through Suez Canal unless they are carrying the new charts.

The enlarged canal will allow ships to sail in both directions between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, and is expected to lead to an immediate doubling in the capacity of the Suez Canal from 49 to 97 ships per day.

Hayley Van Leeuwen, Head of Product & Marketing at GNS commented: “We are working closely with our global client base to ensure that they have the new charts where required. Our global reach means we can supply to vessels in most parts of the world inside 48 hours. Obviously it is important for the flow of international trade that we help avoid a bottleneck of delayed vessels.”