By comparison, China's 36 kilometer (22 mile) Hangzhou Bay Bridge, the world's longest sea-crossing bridge, over seven times the length of the Mumbai bridge, took four years to get completed.

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While crossing the Gulf of Aden -- a waterway in the Arabian Sea notorious for kidnapping and hijacking -- Domjan faced little choice but to recruit six French soldiers for protection.

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Following the Israeli sea-born raid, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered the border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip to be opened.

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He said: "It's the shortest Channel crossing, which a lot of people find appealing - they don't like to spend too long at sea".

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