The new expansion of the Suez Canal near Egypt's Little Bitter Lake will be operational in the first quarter of this year, chairman of the Canal Authority Osama Rabie said on Tuesday.

In a statement, Rabie said the navy would reissue navigational maps after adding the 10-km (6.2 mile) extension to the canal.

(Reporting by Momen Saeed Atallah, Writing by Jana Choukeir Editing by Bernadette Baum)