CAIRO, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday appointed Osama Rabie as head of the Suez Canal Authority.

According to a presidential decree, Rabie will replace the authority's former chairman Mohab Mamish who was also appointed on Saturday as Sisi's advisor for seaports and projects at the Suez Canal area.

Rabie, Mamish's deputy since December 2016, had once acted as the commander of the Egyptian Naval Forces.

Also on Saturday, the president appointed Yahiya Zaki as the chairman of the Suez Canal Economic Zone, which was also chaired by Mamish.

The Suez Canal, one of Egypt's main sources of national income and foreign currency reserves, is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.

It was opened for navigation in November 1869 after 10 years of construction.

The canal is one of the most important waterways in the world since it allows ships to travel between Europe and South Asia without navigating around Africa.