The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has begun digging out the waterway near where a ship had gotten stuck for six days in March. This widening will allow ships to go both ways at the same time.

About 18 miles of the waterway will be widened by about 130 feet, and deepened by 32 feet to help the ships get through more eathfully. It is said that alltogether the work will take about 2 years before it is done.

The grounding of the Ever Given, a 1400 foot freight ship, in March held back hundreds of other ships from getting through the waterway, upsetting trade all over the world.

The ship owner has been working with Egyptian leaders to set things right. The Ever Given is still loaded with goods, and is being held at Great Bitter Lake, a wide stretch of water halfway between the north and south ends of the waterway.

Worldwide shipping still has not come back from the hit it took. Harbors all over the world are dealing with freight backups, thereby making businesses turn to lift and overland means of shipping goods.