A tunnel boring machine arrived at East Port Said port on board a container ship coming from Germany, Chairman of Port Said Port Authority Ahmed Attia said.

The machine was packed in 86 containers, he added.

The drilling operations are scheduled to kick off in April and Port Said tunnel will be drilled in a period of not less than 18 months, Attia said.

He added that German experts would train Egyptian engineers on leading the machine in the first hundred meters, as the Egyptians would continue the project.

The new tunnel project aims at linking the international coastal road east and west of the Suez Canal to serve the East Port Said Port and the investment free zone there, Attia said.