Where we are in the world
The Suez Canal is a shipping route through Egypt that connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. It is a vital route for trade between Europe and Asia. The canal first opened in 1869 and traverses 120 miles total.
In 2016, the “New Suez Canal” was opened which created an additional shipping lane and widened/deepened the original canal to accommodate larger barges. The cost for a single ship to traverse the canal for a large vessel can be as high as US$700,000.
See the interactive Google Map at the bottom of the post!
Three key facts about this map
The “New Suez Canal” project greatly increased the efficiency of passing through
Previously, the Suez Canal could only support about 50 ships per day travelling. With the expansion that opened in 2016, the canal can now support more than 90 ships per day.
Similarly, the time spent transiting the canal has diminished from 16 hours to 11 hours and waiting time at either end of the canal has diminished from 11 hours to 3 hours – almost 15 hours of transit time saved total.
The 2021 Ever Given incident occurred in an area of the Suez with only one lane
In March 2021, a cargo vessel named Ever Given was blown off-course in strong winds into the side of the canal. Despite the expansion project of the canal to include multiple lanes, the incident occured in a section that was not part of the expansion project – it was in an area with a one-way lane. The Ever Given blocked the canal for more than 6 days, resulted in a backlog of more than 450 ships and estimated to have prevented almost US$10 billion in trade.
After the Ever Given incident, there is another expansion plan in the works
As of April 2021, the Suez Canal Authority accelerated plans to widen the southern section of the canal (about 20 miles) between the Red Sea and the Bitter Lakes. This is the one-way section where the Ever Given incident occurred.
Additional links and sources
- Official website of the Suez Canal Authority (link)
- Information on environmental impacts of the expansion project (link, published in 2014)
- News on the impacts of the Ever Given incident (link, published in 2021)
Have you ever seen the Suez Canal IRL?
See other places around the world Globe Charting has featured!
Including other locations in the Middle East/Africa: Enclaves of Nahwa & Madha and the Qattara Depression!
