A more direct route for shipping between Europe and Asia is enabled by it which effectively allows for passage from the North Atlantic to the Indian Ocean without having to circumnavigate the African continent.
The waterway has been at the center of conflict since it opened in 1869 as it is vital for international trade.
Where Is the Suez Canal?
From Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt southward to the city of Suez in a stretch of 120 miles the Suez Canal is situated. The bulk of Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula is separated by the canal. It was officially opened on November 17, 1869 after it took 10 years to get built.
Construction Planning of the Suez Canal:
It was an interest of ancient times of a marine route connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. In as early as 2000 B.C. a series of small canals connecting the Nile River (and, thus, by extension, the Mediterranean) to the Red Sea were in use.
However, a direct connection was considered impossible between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea over concerns that they sat at distinct levels of altitude.
Therefore, various overland routes were employed using horse-drawn vehicles and, later, trains, most notably by Great Britain which helped conducting significant trade with its colonies in present-day India and Pakistan.
Construction of the Suez Canal:
In early 1859 at the northernmost Port Said end of the canal the construction began. The excavation work took around 10 years, and around 1.5 million people worked on the project.
Unfortunately, many of these were slave laborers, over the objections of many British, French and American investors in the canal, and it is believed that from cholera and other causes tens of thousands died while working on the Suez.
The construction of the canal was negatively impacted by the political turmoil in the region. At the time Egypt was ruled by Britain and France, and there were several rebellions against colonial rule.
The limitations of construction technology at the time coupled up, causing the total costs of building the Suez Canal to balloon to $100 million which was more than double the original estimate.
Suez Canal Opens:
On November 17, 1869 Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt and the Sudan, formally opened the Suez Canal. The imperial yacht of French Empress Eugenie, the L’Aigle, followed by the British ocean liner Delta was officially the first ship to navigate through the canal.
However, a British navy ship, the HMS Newport was actually the first to enter the waterway, on the night before the ceremonial opening with its captain having navigated it to the front of the line under the cover of darkness.
George Nares, the captain was officially reprimanded for the deed, but for his efforts in promoting the country’s interests in the region was secretly lauded by the British government.
The first vessel to pass through the Suez Canal from South to North was the S.S. Dido. Only steamships were able to use the canal St least initially, as sailing vessels still had difficulty navigating the narrow channel in the region’s tricky winds.
The waterway had a profound impact on world trade and played a key role in the colonization of Africa by European powers although traffic was less than expected during the canal’s first two years of operation.
The owners Ismail Pasha and others were forced to sell their stock shares to Great Britain in 1875 as still they experienced financial troubles. France was still the majority shareholder in the canal, however.
Suez Canal During Wartime:
In 1888, under the protection of the British, who had by then assumed control of the surrounding region, including Egypt and the Sudan the Convention of Constantinople decreed that the Suez Canal would operate as a neutral zone.
The canal was famously defend by the British from attack by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 during World War I.
The important waterway reaffirmed with the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936, which became vital during World War II, when the Axis powers of Italy and German attempted to capture it. Axis ships were prohibited from accessing it for much of the war despite the supposedly neutral status of the canal.
Egypt withdrew from the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty after the end of World War II, in 1951.
Gamal Abdel Nasser:
The British withdrew their troops from the Suez Canal in 1956 following years of negotiation, the Egyptian government, under the leadership of President Gamal Abdel Nasser got handed over the control.
The canal’s operation was quickly nationalized by Nasser, and in July 1956 he did so by transferring ownership to the Suez Canal Authority, a quasi-government agency.
The Egyptian government’s efforts to establish relations with Soviet Union at the time as well as those moves angered both Great Britain and the United States. Initially, financial support of planned improvements to the Suez were withdrawn by them which included construction of the Aswan Dam.
However, the Nasser government’s decision to close the Straits of Tiran was further enraged the other European powers, a body of water linking Israel with the Red Sea, to all Israeli ships.
Suez Crisis:
In response, in October 1956 the situation lead to the so-called Suez Crisis as troops from Britain, France and Israel threatened to invade Egypt.
Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs Lester B. Pearson recommended the establishment of a United Nations peacekeeping force to protect the canal and ensure access to all as he feared an escalation in the conflict. The U.N. ratified Pearson’s proposal on November 4, 1956.
The U.N. force maintained access as well as peace in the nearby Sinai Peninsula although the Suez Canal Company continued to operate the waterway. However this was not the last time the Suez Canal would play a central role in international conflict.
Arab-Israeli War:
Nasser ordered the U.N. peacekeeping forces out of the Sinai Peninsula at the onset of the Six-Day War of 1967.
Israel ultimately took control of the east bank of the Suez Canal after immediately sending troops into the region. Nasser imposed a blockade on all maritime traffic as he didn't wanted Israeli ships to have access to the waterway.
Notably, 15 cargo ships remained trapped there for years as they had already entered the canal at the time of blockade’s implementation.
Suez was once again made safe for passage as U.S. and British minesweepers eventually cleared the Suez. The canal was reopened in 1975 by the New Egyptian President Anwar, and led a convoy of ships northbound to Port Said.
Suez Canal Today:
Today, carrying more than 300 million tons of goods per year; an average of 50 ships navigate the canal daily.
In 2014, a $8 billion expansion project was overseen by the Egyptian government which widened the Suez from 61 meters to 312 meters for a 21-mile distance. The canal can accommodate ships to pass both directions simultaneously after one year of this project as it took around that time to build it.
In March 2021, an enormous container ship heading from China stuck in the canal despite the widened route, and blocked more than 100 ships at each end of the vital shipping artery. Global trade was disrupted by this incident for nearly a week.
Written by: Gourav Chowdhury
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