In March 2021, strong winds overturned a container ship.In many places it would have caused a minor incident. But at the Suez Canal it was a global crisis.
This ship wasn't just blocking other ships—it was blocking the flow of international trade through one of the world's most important waterways.
The location of the Suez Canal has been of interest to the rulers of the region since the 2nd century BC.
To Move Goods Between Asia And The Mediterranean Basin
traders had to cross the narrow isthmus separating the Red Sea and the Nile, traveling in camel caravans through the unforgiving desert.
A sea route between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean would bypass this journey entirely. And during the 16th century several powers attempted to build such a canal.
But their plans were stymied by cost, political infighting and ever-shifting sands. In 1798, interest in building a canal resurfaced, this time attracting the attention of all of Europe.
During TheFollowing Decades, Individuals From Austria,
Italy, Britain, and France presented their plans to Egypt's rulers. At that time, Egypt was a territory of the Ottoman Empire that resisted these proposals.
But Egypt's political and economic autonomy was gradually increasing, and its government was eager to push the project forward.
When Said Pasha came to power in 1854, he approved a plan by the enterprising and manipulative French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps.
Signed In 1854 And 1856,
a pair of concessions allowed de Lesseps to set up the Suez Canal Company and finance it by selling shares to "capitalists of all nations".
The contracts between Said Pasha and the Canal Company also promised a workforce of millions of Egyptian workers. Beginning in 1862, approximately 20,000 laborers were conscripted each month, digging canals in harsh desert conditions without easy access to food or water.
Diseases such as cholera began to spread and laborers had to toil under the threat of whipping. Estimates of those who died during construction are in the thousands.
In 1864, Ismail Pasha, Egypt's NewRuler,
abolished forced Egyptian labor, but construction continued. Foreign workers from across Europe and the Middle East worked with dredgers and bucket excavators to remove 74 million cubic meters of dirt.
This large population of workers required infrastructure to provide drinking water and other supplies, giving rise to a thriving economy of restaurants, brothels, and smuggled goods.
In the midst of the upheaval three new cities with multi-ethnic populations arose: Port Said on the northern Mediterranean coast, Ismailia on the middle course of the canal, and Port Tawfiq on the southern bank of the canal.
The construction site bypassed the Nile and ran directly from Port Said to Suez. And after years of hard work, finally in the mid-1860s the rivers of the two seas began to meet.
The Finished Canal Was 164 km Long,
with a width of 56 m at the surface, and was officially inaugurated on 17 November 1869. While it struggled financially during its first few years, the canal dramatically accelerated world trade.
It also facilitated the migration of many marine species, dramatically altering local ecosystems and diets. Over the decades, traffic through the canal increased.
But in 1875, financial problems forced Egypt to sell most of its stock in the Canal Company, allowing Britain to take over. It was only in 1956 that control of the canal was fully returned to Egypt when it was nationalized by President Gamal Abdel Nasser.
This move led to a military standoff between Egypt and Britain, France and Israel. But once resolved, it made the canal a major source of national income for Egypt and helped redeem the canal's imperial legacy.
Today, about 30% of all global ship traffic passes through the Suez Canal, with a total of over 20,000 ships in 2021. However, the episode of Ever the Given is a stark reminder of how fragile our man-made systems can be.
Comments
Post a Comment