Except that all day long you can see ships moving in both directions. It's not "close for one way / open for other / empty out entire canal for several hours". Portions of the canal have separate channels for north and southbound, the Great Bitter Lake is also where north and southbound ships travel simultaneously. Closing the entire length of the Suez is abnormal.

Except that all day long you can see ships moving in both directions. It's not "close for one way / open for other / empty out entire canal for several hours"