Suez Canal, Port Said

From NASA's Earth Observatory:

Using a powerful lens, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station photographed the north end of the Suez Canal, along with the city centers and port facilities of Port Said and Port Fuad. Local ship traffic takes on and discharges cargo at the angular shaped docks. A long breakwater protects ships in canal from the prevailing westerly winds and waves that blow across the canal entrance. Muddy, light-brown water from the Nile delta banks up against the west side of the breakwater.

Both ports lie on the west fork of the canal. The east fork was specifically built to allow ships on long hauls—typically between Europe and Asia, via the Mediterranean Sea—to avoid congestion at the west-fork ports. In 2014, Egypt announced plans to ease congestion by digging another canal parallel to the present one; canal tolls provide much needed foreign exchange for Egypt. Current plans only include a parallel canal along half pf the 160 kilometer (100 mile) length.