Work on reopening the Corinth Canal will begin in January 2022, Deputy Environment and Energy Minister Nikos Tagaras said on Thursday.
The 128-year-old canal has been closed to traffic since January after a series of landslides made it unnavigable.
The landslides filled the canal with an estimated 15,000-20,000 cubic meters of material.
Tagaras said that due to the urgency in reopening the waterway, the works would be exempted from an environmental impact study.
The canal separates the mainland from the Peloponnese and can accommodate small cruise ships. It is crossed by a number of bridges, including for a motorway and railway. [AMNA, Kathimerini]