Suez Canal
canal, Egypt
Arabic Qanāt as-Suways, Overview
Ship canal, Isthmus of Suez, Egypt.
Connecting the Red Sea with the eastern Mediterranean Sea, it extends
101 mi (163 km) from Port Said to the Gulf of Suez and allows ships to
sail directly between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. Built by
the French-owned Suez Canal Co., it was completed in 1869 after a decade
of construction. Its ownership remained largely in French and British
hands until Egypt nationalized it in 1956, setting off an international
crisis (see Suez Crisis). It has a minimum width of 179 ft (55 m) and a
depth of about 40 ft (12 m) at low tide. Though protected by
international treaty, the canal has been closed twice. The first closing
was during the Suez Crisis. The canal was closed again by the Six-Day
War (1967) and remained inoperative until 1975. It is one of the world’s
most heavily used shipping lanes.
Main
sea-level waterway running north-south across the Isthmus of Suez in
Egypt to connect the Mediterranean and the Red seas. The canal separates
the African continent from Asia, and it provides the shortest maritime
route between Europe and the lands lying around the Indian and western
Pacific oceans. It is one of the world’s most heavily used shipping
lanes. The canal extends 101 miles (163 kilometres) between Port Said (Būr
Saʿīd) in the north and Suez in the south, with dredged approach
channels north of Port Said into the Mediterranean, and south of Suez.
The canal does not take the shortest route across the isthmus, which is
only 75 miles, but utilizes several lakes, from north to south, Lake
Manzala (Buḥayrat al-Manzilah), Lake Timsah (Buḥayrat at-Timsāḥ), and
the Bitter Lakes: Great Bitter Lake (Al-Buḥayrah al-Murrah al-Kubrā) and
Little Bitter Lake (Al-Buḥayrah al-Murrah aṣ-Ṣughrā). The Suez Canal is
an open cut, without locks, and, though extensive straight lengths
occur, there are eight major bends. To the west of the canal is the
low-lying delta of the Nile River; to the east is the higher, rugged,
and arid Sinai Peninsula. Prior to construction of the canal (completed
in 1869), the only important settlement was Suez, which in 1859 had
3,000 to 4,000 inhabitants. The rest of the towns along its banks have
grown up since, with the possible exception of Al-Qanṭarah.
Physical features » Geology
The Isthmus of Suez, the sole land bridge between the continents of
Africa and Asia, is of relatively recent geologic origin. Both
continents once formed a single large continental mass, but during
Tertiary times (66.4 to 1.6 million years ago) the great fault
structures of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba developed, with the opening
and subsequent drowning of the Red Sea trough as far as the Gulf of Suez
and the Gulf of Aqaba. In the succeeding Quaternary Period, there was
considerable oscillation of sea level, leading finally to the emergence
of a low-lying isthmus that broadened northward to a low-lying open
coastal plain. There, the Nile delta once extended farther east—as a
result of periods of abundant rainfall coincident with the Pleistocene
Epoch (1,600,000 to 10,000 years ago)—and two river arms, or
distributaries, formerly crossed the northern isthmus, one branch
reaching the Mediterranean Sea at the narrowest point of the isthmus and
the other entering the sea some nine miles east of present Port Said.
Physical features » Physiography
Topographically, the Isthmus of Suez is not uniform; there are three
shallow, water-filled depressions—Lake Manzala and Timsah, and the
Bitter Lakes, the last, though distinguished as Great and Little,
forming one continuous sheet of water. A number of more resistant bands
of limestone and gypsum obtrude in the south of the isthmus, and another
significant feature is a narrow valley leading from Lake Timsah
southwestward toward the middle Nile delta and Cairo. The isthmus is
composed of marine sediments, coarser sands, and gravels deposited in
the early periods of abundant rainfall, Nile alluvium (especially to the
north), and windblown sands.
When first opened in 1869, the canal consisted of a channel barely 26
feet (8 metres) deep, 72 feet wide at the bottom, and 200 to 300 feet
wide at the surface. To allow ships to pass each other, passing bays
were built every five to six miles. Construction involved the excavation
and dredging of 97 million cubic yards (74 million cubic metres) of
sediments. Between 1870 and 1884, some 3,000 groundings of ships
occurred because of the narrowness and tortuousness of the channel.
Major improvements began in 1876, and, after successive widenings and
deepenings, the canal by the 1960s had a minimum width of 179 feet at a
depth of 33 feet along its banks, and a channel depth of 40 feet at low
tide. Also in that period, passing bays were greatly enlarged and new
bays constructed, bypasses were made in the Bitter Lakes and at Al-Ballāḥ,
stone or cement cladding and steel piling for bank protection were
almost entirely completed in areas particularly liable to erosion,
tanker anchorages were deepened in Lake Timsah, and new berths were dug
at Port Said to facilitate the grouping of ships in convoy. Plans that
had been made in 1964 for further enlargement were overtaken by the
Arab-Israeli War of June 1967, during which the canal was blocked. The
canal remained inoperative until June 1975, when it was reopened and
improvements were recommenced.
The economy » Operation
In 1870, the canal’s first full year of operation, there were 486
transits, or fewer than 2 per day. In 1966 there were 21,250, an average
of 58 per day, with net tonnage increasing from 437,000 (1870) to
274,000,000. By the mid-1980s the number of daily transits had fallen to
an average of 50, but net annual tonnage was about 350,000,000.
Originally, passing involved one ship entering a passing bay and
stopping, but after 1947 a system of convoys was adopted. Transit time
at first averaged 40 hours; by 1939 it had been reduced to 13 hours, but
as traffic increased after 1942 it went up to 15 hours in 1967, despite
convoying, reflecting the great growth in tanker traffic at that time.
Convoys leave daily—two southbound and one northbound. Southbound
convoys moor at Port Said, Al-Ballāḥ, Lake Timsah, and Al-Kabrīt, where
there are bypasses that allow northbound convoys to proceed without
stopping. With reduced overall traffic and some enlargement of the
canal, transit time since 1975 has been about 14 hours. Upon entering
the canal at Port Said or Suez, ships are assessed for tonnage and cargo
(passengers have ridden without charge since 1950) and are handled by
one pilot (sometimes two) for actual canal transit, which is
increasingly controlled by radar.
The nature of traffic has greatly altered, especially because of the
enormous growth in oil shipments from the Persian Gulf since 1950. In
1913, oil in northbound traffic amounted to 291,000 tons; in the peak
year of 1966, it amounted to 166,000,000 tons. The closure of the canal
from 1967 to 1975 led to the use of large oil tankers on the route
around the Cape of Good Hope. Since 1975 the increased size of
tankers—the largest of which cannot use the canal—has reduced the
canal’s importance in the international oil trade. Canal traffic has
also been affected by the development of sources of crude oil in
Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, the North Sea, and Mexico—all areas outside of
the canal route. Competition has also risen from new pipelines to the
Mediterranean, including the pipeline from Suez to Alexandria that was
opened in 1977.
From an all-time peak in 1945 of 984,000, passenger traffic has
declined to negligible numbers because of the competition from aircraft,
which also now carry high-value cargoes of small bulk. Further decline
in canal traffic resulted from a shift of Australasian trade from Europe
to Japan and East Asia. Some movement of oil, however, from refineries
in Russia, southern Europe, and Algeria has continued, chiefly to India,
and the shipment of dry cargoes, including grain, ores, and metals, has
increased. A more recent feature has been the growth of container
(lighter aboard ship, or LASH) and roll-on roll-off traffic through the
canal, chiefly destined for the highly congested ports of the Red Sea
and Persian Gulf. Asia still receives large quantities of North American
wheat, corn (maize), and barley through the canal.
The major northbound cargoes consist of crude petroleum and petroleum
products, coal, ores and metals, and fabricated metals, as well as wood,
oilseeds and oilseed cake, and cereals. Southbound traffic consists of
cement, fertilizers, fabricated metals, and cereals. Much southbound
traffic consists of empty oil tankers, for supertankers with a
deadweight tonnage of up to 200,000 tons can now transit the canal empty
but not laden.
The economy » Communications and towns
Construction of the canal led to the growth of settlements in what had
been, except for Suez, almost uninhabited arid territory. More than
70,000 acres (28,000 hectares) were brought under cultivation, and about
8 percent of the total population was engaged in agriculture, with
approximately 10,000 commercial and industrial activities of various
sizes. In 1967 almost all the population was evacuated, and most of the
settlements were severely damaged or destroyed during subsequent
warfare. With the reopening of the canal in 1975, however,
reconstruction of the area was begun, and most of the population had
returned by 1978. Port Said was created a customs-free zone in 1975, and
tax-free industrial zones have been established along the canal. The
major urban centres are Port Said, with its east-bank counterpart, Būr
Fuʾād; Ismailia (Al-Ismāʿīlīyah), on the north shore of Lake Timsah; and
Suez, with its west-bank outport, Būr Tawfīq. Water for irrigation and
for domestic and industrial use is supplied by the Nile via the Al-Ismʿīlīyah
Canal.
There are two roads from the pre-1967 period on the west bank.
Ferries have largely been replaced by four underpasses: north of Suez,
south and north of Lake Timsah, and at Al-Qanṭarah. From this last, a
road continues along the east bank to Būr Fuʾād, and another runs
eastward through the Sinai to Israel. Newer roads on the east bank run
eastward to the Khutmīyah, Giddi, and Mitla passes, which give access to
the central Sinai. The railway on the west side of the canal was
restored in the 1970s. In 1980, the Ahmad Hamdi road tunnel was opened,
connecting Egypt proper with its governorate (muḥāfaẓah) of Shamāl Sīnāʾ.
About one mile of the tunnel passes beneath the canal itself.
History » Construction
The first canal in the region seems to have been dug about 1850 bc, when
an irrigation channel navigable at flood period was constructed into the
Wadi Tumelat (al-Ṭumaylāt). This channel was extended by the Ptolemies
via the Bitter Lakes as far as the Red Sea. From the region of Lake
Timsah a northward arm appears to have reached a former branch of the
Nile. Extended under the Romans (who called it Trajan’s Canal),
neglected by the Byzantines, and reopened by the early Arabs, this canal
was deliberately filled in by the ʿAbbāsid caliphs for military reasons
in ad 775. Throughout, the reason for these changes appears to have been
to facilitate trade from the delta lands to the Red Sea rather than to
provide a passage to the Mediterranean.
Venetians in the 15th century and the French in the 17th and 18th
centuries speculated upon the possibility of making a canal through the
isthmus. A canal there would make it possible for ships of their nations
to sail directly from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean and so
dispute the monopoly of the East Indian trade that had been won first by
the Portuguese, then by the Dutch, and finally by the English, all of
whom used the route around the Cape of Good Hope. These schemes came to
nothing.
It was not until the French occupation of Egypt (1798–1801) that the
first survey was made across the isthmus. Napoleon personally
investigated the remains of the ancient canal. J.M. Le Père, his chief
lines-of-communication engineer, erroneously calculated that the level
of the Red Sea was 33 feet (10 metres) above that of the Mediterranean
and, therefore, that locks would be needed. Considering the adverse
conditions under which the French surveyors worked and the prevailing
belief in the disparity of levels of the two seas, the error was
excusable, and Le Père’s conclusion was uncritically accepted by a
succession of subsequent authors of canal projects. Studies for a canal
were made again in 1834 and in 1846. In 1854 Ferdinand de Lesseps
received an Act of Concession from the viceroy (khedive) of Egypt, Saʿīd
Pasha, to construct a canal, and in 1856 a second act conferred on the
Suez Canal Company (Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez) the
right to operate a maritime canal for 99 years after completion of the
work. Construction began in 1859 and took 10 years instead of the 6 that
had been envisaged; climatic difficulties, a cholera epidemic in 1865,
and early labour troubles all slowed down operations. An initial project
was the cutting of a small canal (the Al-Ismāʾīlīyah) from the delta
along the Wadi Tumelat, with a southern branch (now called the Al-Suways
al-Ḥulwah Canal; the two canals combined were formerly called the Sweet
Water Canal) to Suez and a northern one (Al-ʿAbbāsīyah Canal) to Port
Said. This supplied drinking water in an otherwise arid area and was
completed in 1863.
At first, digging was done by hand with picks and baskets, peasants
being drafted as forced labour. Later, dredgers and steam shovels
operated by European labourers took over, and, as dredging proved
cheaper than dry excavation, the terrain was artificially flooded and
dredged wherever possible. Other than in the few areas where rock strata
were met, the entire canal was driven through sand or alluvium. In
August 1869 the waterway was completed, and it was officially opened
with an elaborate ceremony on November 17.
History » Finance
The Suez Canal Company had been incorporated as an Egyptian joint-stock
company with its head office in Paris. Despite much early official
coolness, even hostility, on the part of Great Britain, de Lesseps was
anxious for international participation and offered shares widely. Only
the French responded, however, buying 52 percent of the shares; of the
remainder, 44 percent was taken up by Saʾīd Pasha. The first board of
directors included representatives of 14 countries.
In 1875, financial troubles compelled the new viceroy, Ismāʾīl Pasha,
to sell his holding, which (at the instigation of the prime minister,
Benjamin Disraeli) was at once bought by the British government. Until
that year the shares had remained below their issue price of 500 francs
each. With the British purchase (at 568 francs each), steady
appreciation took place, to more than 3,600 francs in 1900.
Originally allocated 15 percent of the net profits, Egypt later
relinquished the percentage and, after the sale of Ismāʿīl’s 176,602
shares, remained unrepresented on the board of directors until 1949,
when it was, in effect, reinstated as a board member and allotted 7
percent of gross profits. In that year it was also agreed that 90
percent of new clerical jobs and 80 percent of technical appointments
would be offered to Egyptians and that the Canal Company would provide
hospitals, schools, and other amenities.
In 1956, 13 years before the concession was due to expire, the canal
was nationalized by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Since then
the Egyptian government has exercised complete control, though the
original company continues in Paris as a conglomerate.
History » International status
Although the canal was built to serve, and profit from, international
trade, its international status remained undefined for many years. In
1888 the major maritime powers at the time (except Great Britain) signed
the Convention of Constantinople, which declared that the canal should
be open to ships of all nations in times of both peace and war. In
addition, the convention forbade acts of hostility in the waters of the
canal and the construction of fortifications on its banks. Great Britain
did not sign the convention until 1904.
The history of international use of the canal during wartime includes
denial of passage to Spanish warships during the Spanish-American War of
1898 and permission of passage for a squadron of the Russian navy during
the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 and for Italian vessels during Italy’s
invasion of Ethiopia in 1935–36. Theoretically, the canal was open to
all belligerents during World Wars I and II, but the naval and military
superiority of the Allied forces denied effective use of the canal to
the shipping of Germany and its allies.
Following the armistice between Israel and its Arab opponents in
1949, Egypt denied use of the canal to Israel and to all ships trading
with Israel. The first of two canal closings occurred during the Suez
Crisis of 1956–57, after Israel attacked Egyptian forces and French and
British troops occupied part of the canal zone. The second closing was a
consequence of the Arab-Israeli war of June 1967, during and after which
the canal was the scene of much fighting between Egypt and Israel and
for several years formed the front line between the two armies. With the
reopening of the canal in June 1975 and the signing of a peace treaty
between Egypt and Israel in 1979, all ships (including those of Israeli
registration) again had access to the waterway.
William B. Fisher
Charles Gordon Smith
Encyclopaedia Britannica
