Suez canal

BY: DERWIN
Contents
 History
 Authority
 Layout and operation
 Capacity
 Suez canal obstruction
 Expansion
 conclusion
History

 The Suez Canal  is an artificial sea-level waterway

in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to
the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and
dividing Africa and Asia.
 The 193.30 km (120.11 mi) long canal is a popular
trade route between Europe and Asia.
 In 1858, Ferdinand de Lesseps formed the Suez Canal Company for the
express purpose of building the canal . Construction of the canal lasted
from 1859 to 1869.
 The canal officially opened on 17 November 1869. It offers vessels a direct
route between the North Atlantic and northern Indian oceans via the
Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, avoiding the South Atlantic and
southern Indian oceans
 This reduce the journey distance from the Arabian Sea to London by
approximately 8,900 kilometres (5,500 mi), or 10 days at 20 knots
(37 km/h; 23 mph) to 8 days at 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph).
 Authority
 The canal was the property of the Egyptian government, but European
shareholders, mostly British and French, owned the concessionary
company which operated it until July 1956, when President Gamal Abdel
Nasser nationalised 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(SCA) of Egypt.
 The Suez Canal Authority officially opened the new side channel in
2016. This side channel, 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.
Layout and operation
 When built, the canal was 164 km (102 mi) long and 8 m (26 ft) deep. After
several enlargements, it is 193.30 km long, 24 m (79 ft) deep and 205 metres
(673 ft) wide . it consists of the northern access channel of 22 km (14 mi),
the canal itself of 162.25 km and the southern access channel of 9 km

 The so-called New Suez Canal, functional since 6 August 2015, currently has
a new parallel canal in the middle part, with its length over 35 km (22 mi).
The current parameters of the Suez Canal, including both individual canals
of the parallel section are: depth 23 to 24 metres (75 to 79 ft) and width at
least 205 to 225 metres (673 to 738 ft) (that width measured at 11 metres
(36 ft) of depth).
Capacity
The canal allows passage of ships up to 20 m (66 ft) draft or 240,000 deadweight
tons and up to a height of 68 m (223 ft) above water level and a maximum beam of
77.5 m (254 ft) . The canal can handle more traffic and larger ships than the Panama
Canal, as Suezmax dimensions are greater than both Panamax and New Panamax.
 Some supertankers are too large to traverse the canal. Others can offload part of
their cargo onto a canal-owned ship to reduce their draft, transit, and reload at the
other end of the canal.
On 15 April 2021 Egyptian authorities announced that they would widen the
southern section of the Suez Canal to improve the efficiency of the canal. The plan
mainly covers about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from Suez to the Great Bitter Lake. It
will be widened by 40 metres (130 ft)and the maximum depth will be increased from
about 20 metres (66 ft) to about 22 metres (72 ft).
Suez canal obstruction 2021
 In March 2021, the Suez Canal was blocked for six days after the grounding of Ever
Given, a 20,000 TEU container ship.The 400-metre-long (1,300 ft) vessel was buffeted
by strong winds on the morning of 23 March, and ended up wedged across the
waterway with its bow and stern stuck in the canal banks, blocking all traffic until it
could be freed. Egyptian authorities said that "technical or human errors" may have
also been involved. The obstruction occurred south of the section of the canal that had
two channels, so there was no way for other ships to bypass Ever Given. As one of the
world's busiest trade routes, the canal obstruction had a significant negative impact on
trade between Europe, Asia and the Middle East
 Expansion
 A project to expand parts of the Suez Canal is expected to be completed after two years
of work in July 2023.
 The SCA announced accelerated plans to extend a second channel of the canal and to
enlarge an existing channel after the Ever Given container ship ran aground and blocked
the waterway for six days last year.
"The project will be completed in 24 months. We started in July 2021 and God willing we
will finish in July 2023," Chairman Osama Rabie said on the sidelines of an event in Dubai.
 Ships pass through the canal in convoys, and the extension of the second lane would
increase capacity by six ships, Rabie said, without giving further details.
 The southernmost 30 km of the canal, where the Ever Given became grounded, is set to
be widened 40 metres eastward and deepened to 72 feet from 66 feet, according to
previously announced plans."This will improve ship navigation by 28% in this difficult
part of the canal," Rabie said.
Conclusion

In 2019, the canal celebrated its 150th anniversary. Since its opening, it has been
the focal point of commerce, great power rivalry, liberation movements, even war.
It was conceived in the 19th century by French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps and
Egypt's then ruling family, who envisioned a trade passage that would allow
vessels to bypass a long East-West route around the tip of southern Africa. After a
gradual British commercial takeover of the waterway, the leader of Egypt's 20th
century independence movement, Gamal Abdel Nasser, seized it in 1956. It has
since become one of the greatest symbols of the nation's post-colonial
independence
Thankyou