Satellite image of the Strait of Hormuz. Photo: Wikipedia.

Saudi Arabia is planning to build a massive canal through Yemen to bypass the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s semi-official state news agency Fars claimed on Wednesday.

The report cited Sa’ad Ibn Omar, head of the Arab Studies Center in Riyadh, who said, “Studies are underway on the construction of a waterway which starts from a part of Saudi Arabia’s water border in the Khour al-Adid area between the UAE and Qatar and stretches 950 km to the Arabian Sea.”

According to Omar, the purpose of the waterway, to be named the Salman Canal (after Saudi King Salman), is to enable the UAE and Kuwait to bypass the Iran-controlled Strait of Hormuz when exporting their oil to other countries.

Omar added that the proposed canal, which is expected to cost $80 billion, would cut in half the current travel time it takes for ships to sail through the Strait of Hormuz.