CAIRO: The Suez Canal expects to see 140 ships pass through the waterway on Tuesday after 113 transited overnight following the release of a grounded container ship, its chairman said.

Suez Canal Authority chairman Osama Rabie said 95 ships would pass by 1900 local time and a further 45 by midnight, reasserting that he hoped a backlog caused by the blockage would be cleared in three to four days.

(Reporting by Nadine Awadalla, Omar Fahmy and Mahmoud Mourad Writing by Aidan Lewis and Louise Heavens) ((Aidan.Lewis@tr.com; +20-1001174410;))