- Ever Given, a cargo ship belonging to Taiwanese shipping line Evergreen got blocked at Suez Canal, for 7 days from 23rd March 2021 to 29th March 2021
- The entire media across the world, including that of India, was reporting this blockage and the impact it will have on our trade & economy
- The Suez Canal, opened in 1869 handled 25000 vessels during 2020
Part I: Introduction & History
Connecting two seas — the Red Sea to the south and the Mediterranean to the north — the Suez Canal is said to be the busiest man-made shipping route on our planet, bar none. Dividing two continents, this thread of water body was artificially created to shorten the waterway travel time between the North Atlantic and the North Indian Oceans — and every port associated with them. Today, we will talk about the importance the Suez Canal plays on the economy of India; especially on the manufacturing industry.
A Bit of Geography First
The Suez Canal is dug through the Isthmus of Suez, from which the famous canal gets its name. The isthmus is the sole landmass connecting the continents of Asia and Africa; sandwiched between the Mediterranean above and the Red Sea below.
There are three main water bodies in the Isthmus of Suez; namely Lake Manzala, Lake Timsah, and the Bitter Lakes. There is a narrow valley from Timash to the median Nile delta. Altogether, they form an excellent opportunity to draw a line on the map from Port Said to Port Suez; and wise people of olden times were quick to note this.
Evolution of The Suez Canal
Officially, the Suez Canal was built in ten years starting in 1859, but that is far from the full picture. You see, the idea to connect the Nile to the Red Sea (thereby connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean) existed from way back in ancient times, and many tried to materialize it.
Efforts by the Ancients
Such an effort was reportedly carried out by Pharaoh Senusret II or III of the legendary 12th Dynasty of Egypt called the Canal of the Pharaohs. It wasn’t a waterway per se; it was just for irrigation purposes. But during the floods, the water level rose enough to permit the passage of then-time seafarer large vessels.
Necho II of the 26th Dynasty of Egypt was a great constructor and one of his more ambitious projects was to connect the Red Sea to Heroopolis. Reportedly more than a hundred thousand labourers died in this mighty project — and yet, unfortunately, the venture was scrapped with the death of the King. An oracle prophesied that the enemies of Egypt (at that time, specifically Nebuchadnezzar II) would profit from this project, thus calling its demise.
The Romans and the Persians apparently had similar ideas and legendary names such as Darius I and Ptolemy are associated with digging this mighty canal as well. Darius I, when he ruled Egypt, completed Necho’s project by taking advantage of a natural water body that existed at that time from the Heroopolite Gulf. Darius’s Canal was large enough to allow two times to row abreast, making it a true waterway between the two seas.
Ptolemy II Philadelphus took it to another level by adding navigable locks and sluice gates to the canal; thereby preventing the seawater from corrupting the irrigable water of the channel. Trajan, possibly, may have had another canal dug from Old Cairo to the Red Sea, but details of it are sketchy at best.
After the discovery of the trading route to India around Africa, many nations have planned to dig this canal — but none prevailed. Notable plans of such ideas were made by the Venetians, the ottomans, and even by Napoleon! Alas, they would have to wait 400-500 years.
The Piercing of the Isthmus of Suez
In 1854, Ferdinand de Lesseps obtained permission from Said Pasha (the Khedive of Egypt & Sudan) to create a company to construct a canal open to ships of all nations. De Lesseps went on to convene the “International Commission for the piercing of the isthmus of Suez” which contained experts from seven countries. All surveys and plans were complete by 1856; and in 1858, the Suez Canal Company was born.
We should mention here that the western world was not much amused by this. Especially Britain, Austria, and Russia were quite cold at receiving this exciting news. However, with the pressure of the famous Rotshchildes, Europe soon began to pull through with the shares.
On 25th April 1859, the construction of the Suez Canal officially began at the place where Port Said would be in future.
The project employed over one and a half million people from all over the world, among them 30,000 diggers working under corvee labour. The herculean project consumed lives by the thousands just as it did in the olden times; reports go as high as 120,000 dead of mostly cholera, accidents, heat, and other issues. It took ten years to dig the canal.
The inauguration of the Suez Canal took place on the evening of 15th November 1869, with the blessing of the canal by both Muslims and Christians. The first ship travelling through the Suez Canal was the french flagship L’Aigle, carrying Empress Eugine, which was followed by other mighty ships of that time carrying various royalties from all over Europe and Russia. The flotilla experienced many celebrations and fireworks from both shores as they passed through.
Modern Times and the Suez Canal
The Suez Canal had an immediate impact on world trade. It hit the British hard because they played a big role in the previous around-Africa route as an intermediate station; which led to the Panic of 1873. However, the UK bought about 44% of the shares of the Canal Company, equalizing the situation somewhat.
Not satisfied, the British invaded the region in 1882 and took full control of the Suez Canal. To be fair, trade and traffic through the Canal prospered even better under this British rule. Afterwards, in 1888, the canal was declared a neutral zone by an international treaty, under British rule.
This proved useful when the First World War broke out and Ottomans tried to (and failed) take control of the Suez Canal in 1915. Again, during the Second World War, Germans and Italians tried the same (and failed) again — with the Suez Canal being shut to Nazi traffic, hurting their economy in the soft underbelly.
The Suez Crisis
In 1956, Egypt took back control of the Suez Canal, evicting the British troops from the region by treaty. Almost immediately, the President of Egypt nationalized the Canal. The UK and the USA responded by removing their support from the Aswan Dam building.
On the same day, Egypt blocked the Canal to all Israeli ships. This resulted in the Suez Crisis, where the UK, France, and Israel jointly invaded Egypt.
To prevent this from becoming the Third World War, Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs Lester B. Pearson proposed a new idea. He suggested the formation of the first United Nations peacekeeping force, which would take control of the situation, favouring no sides. For this, the shipping ban on Israeli ships through the Suez Canal would be lifted and the invasion will be completely withdrawn.
The British and the Egyptians were not in favour of this solution much, but, forced by the rest of the world, they had to accept. As a result, the crisis was ended, and the United Nations Emergency Force was built to take control of the Canal. It was closed for repairing the damages till April 1957. Pearson got the Nobel Peace Prize for solving the crisis.
Other Conflicts in the Suez Canal
In 1967, Egypt evicted the UNEF troops and closed the canal for Israeli shipping again, resulting in the Six-Day War. Israeli forces occupied Sinai, and the Canal was totally closed as a response. 15 ships (known as the “Yellow Fleet”) got trapped in the Suez Canal, to stay there till 1975.
In 1973, Egypt and Israel went to open naval fights in and around Sinai. You can still see the wreckages of these fights on both shores in this part of the Canal. The canal was covered by naval mines in these times, and the USA started various operations to clear the mines which went on all 1974.
In 1981, a Multinational Force and Observer group was established to phase out the Israeli presence in the area. They remain in control to date.
Suez Canal crisis sparks debate on a variety of topics. https://t.co/q1dhgvxaRK pic.twitter.com/cqnTp6RzVj
— University of Miami (@univmiami) April 7, 2021
Suez Canal in the New Millenium
By 2015, a “New Suez Canal”, that is, a bypass canal was constructed parallel to the original, allowing the passage of ships in both directions simultaneously.
In 2021, On 23rd March in the evening, the Suez Canal was blocked in both directions by the ultra-large container ship Ever Given. Operated by Evergreen Marine, the ship was reportedly blown off course by strong winds, which caused it to turn and run aground, blocking the whole width of the Canal. Around 450 ships were deadlocked by this incident. Fortunately, by the 29th, the ship had been refloated.
