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3. The Suez Canal
The Suez Canal is an artificial waterway of about 163 km in length running across the Isthmus of Suez in northeastern Egypt which
connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of Suez, an arm of the Red Sea. It has no locks, because the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Suez have roughly the same water level. It acts as a shortcut for ships between both European and American ports and ports located in southern Asia, eastern Africa, and Oceania. Because of obvious geographical considerations, the maritime route from Europe to the Indian and Pacific oceans must contour the Cape of Good Hope at the southernmost point of the African continent. The minimum width of the channel is 60 meters and ships of 16 meters (58 feet) draft can make the transit. The canal can accommodate ships as large as 150,000 deadweight tons fully loaded.
The first canal between the Nile River delta and the Red Sea was excavated about the 13th century BC. Its purpose was to expand trade between the Mediterranean and the Middle East, which became significant by 100 AD. During the next 1,000 years, the canal was neglected, but at different times Egyptian and Roman rulers modified it. Restoration efforts were abandoned in the 8th century AD as the Roman Empire collapsed and Mediterranean trade dropped. Transshipping the goods across the Isthmus was judged more profitable than supporting the maintenance of a canal. This situation endured until the nineteen century when powerful maritime interests saw the need to make a Mediterranean - Red Sea connection a reality again.
The Suez Canal was
constructed between 1859 and 1869 by French and Egyptians interests with a cost of about 100 million dollars. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 brought forward a new era of European influence in Pacific Asia. The journey from Asia to Europe was considerably reduced by
saving 6,500 km from the circum African route. In 1874,
Britain bought the shares of the Suez Canal Company and became its sole owner. According to the Convention of Constantinople signed in 1888, the canal was to be open to vessels of all nations in time of peace or in war. However, Great Britain claimed the need to control the area to maintain its maritime power and colonial interests (namely in South Asia). In 1936, it acquired the right to maintain defense forces along the Suez Canal, which turned out to be of strategic importance during World War II to uphold Asia-Europe supply routes for the Allies.
The second half of the 20th century saw renewed geopolitical instability in the region with the end of colonialism and the emergence of Middle Eastern nationalisms. In 1954 Egypt and Great Britain signed an agreement that superseded the 1936 treaty and provided for the gradual withdrawal of all British troops from the zone. All the British troops were gone by June 1956 as the canal was nationalized by Egypt. This triggered problems with Israel, as Israeli ships were not permitted to cross the canal. This threat was also extended to France and Britain, the former owners of the canal because they refused to help finance the Aswan High Dam project, as initially promised. Israel, France and Britain thus invaded Egypt in 1956. Egypt responded by sinking ships in the canal effectively closing it between 1956 and 1957. An agreement about the usage of the canal was then reached.
However, geopolitical problems persisted as tensions between Israel and Arab nations increased in the 1960s. The Six Days War between Israel and Egypt and the invasion of the Sinai Peninsula by Israel caused the closure of the Suez Canal between 1967 and 1975. This event significantly destabilized international transportation and favored the development of ever larger tankers to use the long circum Africa route.
The canal was finally re-opened in 1975 as Egypt agreed to let Israel use it. Significant improvements were made between 1976 and 1980, mainly the widening of the canal to accommodate very large crude carriers (VLCC) of 200,000 tons supporting the oil trade between Europe and the Middle East. The minimum width of the channel is 60 meters and ships of up to 16 meters (58 feet) of draft can make the transit. This means that ultra large crude carriers (
ULCC; tankers of more than 300,000 tons) cannot pass through the Canal when fully loaded.
A common practice is to unload parts of Mediterranean bound ships and use Sumed pipeline. With additional deepening and widening projects, the depth of the canal is expected to reach 22 meters by 2010.
The canal has the capacity to accommodate up to 25,000 ships per year, but handles about 14,000,
on average 38 ships per day, which roughly account for 14% of the global trade. Since the canal can only handle unidirectional traffic, crossings must be organized into convoys of about 10-15 ships. Three convoys per day, two southbound and one northbound, are organized. Missing a convoy involves supplementary delays to the point that many maritime companies (particularly containers) will skip a port call to insure that their ships arrive on time at the Suez Canal to be part of a specific convoy. A rail line also runs parallel to the canal.
Controlling access to the Suez Canal is the Strait of Bab el-Mandab, a strategic link between the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. It has between 48 and 80 km of width, but navigation is limited to two 3 km wide channels for inbound and outbound traffic. The sizable amount of tanker traffic makes navigation difficult along the narrow channels. A closing of this strait would have serious consequences, forcing a detour around the Cape of Good Hope and in the process demanding additional tanker space. *
