EGYPT SURPRISE AT SUEZ WHEN EGYPT'S PRESIDENT GAMAL ABDEL NASSER GRABBED THE 
SUEZ CANAL 6F YEARS AGO, HIS BITTER ENEMIES IN EUROPE PREDICTED 
THAT THE BIG DITCH WOULD SOON BE FILLED WITH SILT AND 
THAT UNTRAINED EGYPTIAN PILOTS WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO STEER SHIPPING 
THROUGH SAFELY . THE CRITICS TURNED OUT TO BE WRONG ON 
BOTH COUNTS . EGYPT HAS WIDENED THE CANAL WITH BYPASSES PERMITTING 
THREE CONVOYS DAILY TO USE THE WATERWAY MORE EFFICIENTLY, AND DEEPENED 
IT SUFFICIENTLY TO ACCOMMODATE MOST OF THE WORLD'S TANKER FLEET . 
LAST YEAR 18,518 SHIPS TRAVELED THROUGH THE CANAL, 370 MORE THAN 
IN 1961 . FURTHER PLANS CALL FOR ADDITIONAL DEEPENING OF THE 
CANAL, AND MAKING IT TWO-WAY FOR ITS ENTIRE 102-MILE LENGTH . 
FORMER STOCKHOLDERS OF THE OLD SUEZ CANAL CO . WERE FIRMLY 
CONVINCED IN 1956 THAT THEY WOULD NEVER GET A CENT OUT 
OF THEIR NATIONALIZED INVESTMENT . BUT WITH 1962 REVENUE AT A 
WHOPPING $149.5 MILLION (45 PER CENT ABOVE 1955), NASSER'S CANAL OFFICIALS 
HAVE ANNOUNCED PAYMENT OF THE FINAL $11.4 MILLION INSTALLMENT ON THE 
$81.2 MILLION COMPENSATION DEBT . RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CANAL'S SUCCESS IS 
ITS EGYPTIAN BOSS, DYNAMIC, BALDING MAHMOUD YOUNIS, 50, A ONETIME ARMY 
ENGINEER AND A CLOSE FRIEND OF NASSER SINCE THE DAYS WHEN 
THEY SHARED AN OFFICE AT THE STAFF OFFICERS COLLEGE, EGYPT'S WEST 
POINT . THOUGH YOUNIS HAD NEVER SAILED SO MUCH AS A 
ROWBOAT, NASSER PICKED HIM TO RUN THE BUSY WATERWAY SHORTLY AFTER 
THE BRITISH AND FRENCH SHIP PILOTS WITHDREW FROM THE CANAL IN 
SEPTEMBER 1956 . AT FIRST, YOUNIS HAD AVAILABLE ONLY 26 TRAINED 
PILOTS OF THE 250 NORMALLY REQUIRED, BUT HE KEPT THE CANAL 
FUNCTIONING AROUND THE CLOCK . " I DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT 
SHIPS, " HE SAID . " BUT I DID KNOW A 
LOT ABOUT MOVEMENT CONTROL FROM THE ARMY . KEEPING THE SHIPS 
SHUTTLING BACK AND FORTH WAS A SIMPLE MATTER COMPARED WITH ORGANIZING 
A BATTLE . " YOUNIS TAKES GREAT PRIDE IN THE PERFORMANCE 
OF HIS EGYPTIAN PILOTS . " THEY THOUGHT THAT ONLY EUROPEANS 
COULD RUN THE CANAL, BUT THEY WERE WRONG, " HE SAYS 
. " I HAVE NO INFERIORITY COMPLEXES . TO ME, MANAGEMENT 
IS A SCIENCE THAT ANYONE CAN MASTER . " U.S . 
SHIPPERS ARE FULL OF ADMIRATION FOR THE EFFICIENT SERVICE THEY GET 
IN YOUNIS' CANAL . TO THEM, HE SHRUGS, " IN THE 
U.S., YOU SAY THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT . WELL, THAT'S 
WHAT I SAY TOO . AND YOU ARE MY CUSTOMERS . 
" 