Suez Canal - The Backbone of the World

Suez Canal - The Backbone of the World

    On the 23rd of March 2021, a 400-metre long mega Cargo Ship slammed into the siding of the Suez Canal. Over the next 7 days, while the ship attempted to refloat, the world lost roughly $2 Billion USD thanks to a choke point in one of the world's most important link way. This 193km canal has started wars, invasions and a lot more chaos. This is the story of the backbone of the world - The Suez Canal.

Where is the Suez Canal?

    The Suez Canal is located entirely in Egypt. Go onto whatever online map you're looking at, and type in 'Egypt'. Egypt is split into two parts. The main part and the not the main part. The 'not the main part' is called the Sinai Peninsula which is the part of Egypt that sticks awkwardly out from the main part, which is called a panhandle. The Sinai Peninsula is the sparsely populated part of Egypt, the section in between the Mainland and the Sinai Peninsula is the rough spot of where the Suez Canal is located. The name of the canal, is after the name of the nearby city, Suez, which sits alongside the South-west of the canal. 

    The canal by the way, is split into two parts, the north and the south. The north section starts at the Mediterranean Sea and enters through the nearby Port Said, it then squiggles through the countryside running parallel to Route 40M for 46km before the canal cuts through the town of El Qantara. Another 25km later and we approach the town of Ismalia. The canal then turns to dodge the town before we arrive at the Great Bitter Lake, where a thin narrow canal turns into a lake for a while. Before we enter into the south section, slightly shorter than the north. The canal runs downwards for the next 37km before sliding right next to Port Taofik of Suez where the canal merges into the Gulf of Suez and then the Red Sea.

The Messy History of Suez (1800s-1970s)

    Before the Suez Canal was a thing, ships sailing from Asia to Europe and vice versa had to sail down towards the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. Since this was colonial times, the British found themselves in a pretty lucky position so they set up a small port in India called Calcutta (present-day Mumbai) and a small port at the southern point of Africa called Cape Town. The British were profiting a lot from this especially in the 1800s when the European powers were trading with China. 

    This is where the French come in, the French and most of the other European powers didn't like to waste so much resources going around a continent so they decided why don't we shortened the route. So in 1858, they decided to built a canal, just one single shipping lane 193km long. The British had at that time controlled both the Maritime Route and the Land Route so they obviously oppose the construction of a stupid canal while the French and the European powers were using the canal and while a travel journey from London to Mumbai in the past was a month long, now was roughly a few days or weeks shorter. And so began the spark for the next 100 years, the once desolate Sinai Peninsula became a powerful piece of land after the construction of a small strip of water. 

    The Egyptians, which did not control said canal decided to explode trade around the canal to help turn a profit. So Port Said was constructed north of the canal while Port Taofik was con south of the canal. But through the 1870s, many European powers were greedy and they knew that taking over that canal could turn their country into a superpower. This became apparent in 1882, when the British invaded the canal and took complete control of it. To stop this invade and control thing, the Convention of Constantinople was held in 1888 and the canal was declared a 'Neutral Zone' but under the protection of the British. And so it was. For the next 68 years, the British would have full control over the canal. This was especially important during both World Wars. British armies stationed at the canal stopped Axis powers from utilising the canal which could have saved some time and money. 

    Now the year is 1953, and neighboring Egypt has gained independence. The British decided to instead turn the canal to Egypt's hands instead. In 1956, Egypt nationalised the canal with the establishment of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) and after 68 years of British Rule, now turned into not peace, but chaos. Enter the Suez Crisis.

Canal in Crisis (1950-1980s)

    So it was the 1960s and Egypt was making millions off a canal and neighboring Israel, seeing the prosperous canal only a desert away, decided to not use friendship but to use fury and during the Six-Day War, Israel, along with help from Soviet Russia, crashed the Egypt and took over the Sinai Peninsula. The canal became a battleground. Things stayed like this for 8 years! Egypt decided to finally make a move and with help from Syria up above, decided to advance towards Israel in the Yom Kippur War 1973. In the end, Egypt regained control of the Suez Canal and both agreed to a peace treaty.

Shipping Into The Future (1980-2021)

    Life along Suez Canal stayed basically the same for the next 20 or so years. In 2014, the Suez Canal Authority announced the plan for a second canal, the New Suez Canal (ingenious name indeed). Here's a small question for you, how long do you think the new canal was built in? 

    The answer: 2 years. That is 18 years shorter than the construction of Old Suez Canal. Technology has come a long way hasn't it. But keep in mind, the New Suez Canal was only parallel to the north section of the Old Suez Canal. Which brings us to Ever Given.

Access Denied (2021)

    So at this point you are probably wondering how the ship hit the side of the canal? The answer was according to the shipping company, a huge sandstorm which caused the ship to lose control. Fair Enough, I guess. The ship took 5 days to refloat. But the effort to refloat it took the pain and the heart of workers from around the world. Japan, Britain, France, Egypt and so many other nations came together and got this ship out. In the end, the amount of money lost was close to $2.2 Billion (estimates vary). Now in case you don't already know, there is another 'important link way' on the other side of the world. The Panama Canal. So when the Suez Canal was clogged, shipping companies had to decide to either send their ships around the Cape of Good Hope or to send their ships to the Panama Canal instead. Thankfully the obstruction took a small time to tidy if not an already devastating crisis would have turned worse. 

    On March 29, after 5 long days, the Ever Given was free and the busiest shipping lane in the world reopened. The massive cargo ship was brought to the Great Bitter Lake for further inspection where, as of 7 April 2021, it still is. 

Farren Opinion Corner

    So what's the lesson we learn today kids? Is it to always have a backup plan? Or is it a sign that we must shift our focus to air cargo instead of marine cargo? No. It is that we must learn to treasure the parts of the planet that keep the world spinning. Like the Suez Canal or say Wall Street or maybe the hundreds of airports and ports around the world or even your nearby petrol station keeping your car moving. Now imagine the world is one massive human body, and if the Suez Canal is the backbone of the world then maybe you are just a single small cell, in this wondrous world we live in. And just remember, that even when you are sleeping, the Suez Canal is still shipping. 

Happy Reading!

Farren's Personal Corner:

farrenpersonalcorner.blogspot.com

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