The Suez Canal is a valuable link between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. It cuts thousands of miles from the routes of ships traveling between European and Asian waters. The waterway separates the continents of Africa and Asia.

Physical features

Millions of years ago a natural channel joined the Mediterranean and Red seas. When it dried up, only a chain of salty lakes remained on the Isthmus of Suez. The Suez Canal follows this chain and uses these lakes for passage. The canal crosses the isthmus at sea level. Unlike the Panama Canal, it needs no locks. There are eight major bends in its length. In addition, there are stretches where the canal has been doubled. These double channels, or bypasses, allow ships traveling in opposite directions to pass each other without stopping.

The canal was originally dug only 26 feet (8 meters) deep, 72 feet (22 meters) wide at the bottom, and 200 to 300 feet (60 to 90 meters) wide at the surface. As ships got larger, the canal has had to be dug wider and deeper several times. By 1963 it had a minimum width of 179 feet (55 meters) and a depth of almost 40 feet (12 meters) at low tide. In 1975 the canal was deepened even more and two new bypasses were built.

Economic importance

The Suez Canal allows ships to pass between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean without having to sail around the entire African continent. The 12,400-mile (19,950-kilometer) voyage from London around South Africa to Bombay, India, was shortened to 7,250 miles (11,670 kilometers).

The Suez Canal is one of the world's most heavily used shipping lanes. Tankers carry petroleum northward from the oil fields of the Persian Gulf region. Coal, ores and metals, and other bulk commodities are also transported northward. The main southbound traffic consists of cement, fertilizers, fabricated metals, and cereal grains as well as oil tankers returning empty to the Persian Gulf. Fully loaded, the largest oil tankers cannot use the canal and must make their northbound trip around the southern tip of Africa.

Operation

Large ships are steered through the canal by pilots. The trip takes about 14 hours. To prevent accidents, ships move in convoys (groups) at fixed speeds, following one another at fixed distances. Each day two convoys from the Mediterranean and one from the Gulf of Suez travel through the canal. About 50 vessels cross each day. Most are tankers and cargo ships. Occasionally passenger liners and warships use the waterway.

History

Almost 4,000 years ago ancient Egyptians began work on a canal that eventually reached from the Nile delta to the Gulf of Suez. In the 8th century AD, however, the early Arabs filled in the canal for military reasons. For centuries afterward trade with the Far East was carried overland across Asia. Eventually ships found their way around southern Africa.

In the 1850s a French engineer, Ferdinand de Lesseps, obtained permission from the viceroy of Egypt, Sa?id Pasha, to dig a canal. Construction began in 1859. The first workers dug with picks. Later steam shovels were moved in. The canal was completed in 1869.

Until 1956 the canal was owned by the Suez Canal Company, which was controlled by the French and the British. In July of that year, however, President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt declared the Suez Canal to be the property of his own country. Israel, Britain, and France unsuccessfully tried to end the takeover by force, and Nasser maintained control. The conflict shut down the canal until 1957. In 1963 Egypt became the sole owner of the waterway.

The canal was again closed during the Arab-Israeli War of June 1967. It was not reopened until 1975, after it had been cleared of mines and sunken ships. A peace treaty signed in 1979 gave Israeli ships access to the waterway once again.