5/5 Blue S. 3 years ago on Google
The Suez
Canal (Arabic: قناة
السويس qanāt
as-suwēs)
is
an
artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt,
connecting
the Mediterranean
Sea to
the Red
Sea through
the Isthmus
of
Suez.
It
is
often
considered
to
define
the
border
between Africa and Asia.
Constructed
by
the Suez
Canal
Company between
1859
and
1869,
it
officially
opened
on
17
November
that
year.
The canal,
which
is
part
of
the
Maritime Silk
Road,
offers watercraft a
more
direct
route
between
the North
Atlantic and
northern Indian oceans
via
the
Mediterranean
and
Red
seas,
thus
avoiding
the
South
Atlantic
and
southern
Indian
oceans
and
reducing
the
journey
distance
from
the
Arabian
Sea
to
London,
for
example,
by
approximately
8,900
kilometres
(5,500 mi).
It
extends
from
the
northern
terminus
of Port
Said to
the
southern
terminus
of Port
Tewfik at
the
city
of Suez.
Its
length
is
193.30 km
(120.11 mi)
including
its
northern
and
southern
access-channels.
In
2012,
17,225
vessels
traversed
the
canal
(an
average
of
47
per
day).
The
original
canal
featured
a
single-lane
waterway
with
passing
locations
in
the
Ballah
Bypass
and
the Great
Bitter
Lake. It
contained
no lock systems,
with
seawater
flowing
freely
through
it.
In
general,
the
canal
north
of
the
Bitter
Lakes
flows
north
in
winter
and
south
in
summer.
South
of
the
lakes,
the
current
changes
with
the tide at
Suez.
While
the
canal
as
such
was
the
property
of
the
Egyptian
government,
European
shareholders,
mostly
French
and
British,
owned
the concessionary
company which
operated
it
until
July
1956,
when
President Gamal
Abdel
Nasser nationalized
it—an
event
which
led
to
the Suez
Crisis of
October–November
1956.
The
canal
is
operated
and
maintained
by
the
state-owned Suez
Canal
Authority[6] (SCA)
of
Egypt.
Under
the Convention
of
Constantinople,
it
may
be
used
"in
time
of
war
as
in
time
of
peace,
by
every
vessel
of
commerce
or
of
war,
without
distinction
of
flag".
Nevertheless,
the
canal
has
played
an
important
military
strategic
role
as
a
naval
short-cut
and choke-point.
Navies
with
coastlines
and
bases
on
both
the
Mediterranean
and
Red
Seas
(Egypt and Israel)
have
a
particular
interest
in
the
Suez
Canal.
In
August
2014,
the
Egyptian
government
launched
construction
to
expand
and
widen
the
Ballah
Bypass
for
35 km
(22 mi)
to
speed
the
canal's
transit-time.
The
expansion
intended
to
nearly
double
the
capacity
of
the
Suez
Canal,
from
49
to
97
ships
per
day.
At
a
cost
of
59.4
billion
Egyptian
pounds
(US$8bn),
this
project
was
funded
with interest-bearing
investment
certificates issued
exclusively
to
Egyptian
entities
and
individuals.
The
"New
Suez
Canal",
as
the
expansion
was
dubbed,
was
opened
with
great
fanfare
in
a
ceremony
on
6
August
2015.
On
24
February
2016,
the
Suez
Canal
Authority
officially
opened
the
new
side
channel.
This
side
channel,
located
at
the
northern
side
of
the
east
extension
of
the
Suez
Canal,
serves
the
East
Terminal
for
berthing
and
unberthing
vessels
from
the
terminal.
As
the
East
Container
Terminal
is
located
on
the
Canal
itself,
before
the
construction
of
the
new
side
channel
it
was
not
possible
to
berth
or
unberth
vessels
at
the
terminal
while
a
convoy
was
running.
97 people found this review helpful 👍
