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At the time, the channel was only a fraction of the current width and depth of the road, so in specially constructed bays every 6 kilometers, ships had to wait for other crews to successfully cross a narrow stretch of water.
The normal trip from one end of the canal to the other took 40 hours, four times longer than today.
However, in 1870. and the ships were slower, and there weren’t as many people asking for so much furniture and coffee from outside. The water transport was also much smaller compared to the now world famous EverGiven, which weighs 220,000 tons and is almost 400 meters long.
Why was the Suez Canal built?
Look at the map and it is relatively easy to see the logical reasons that led the French planners of the then Egyptian colony to decide to excavate the Suez Canal.
At its most convenient, the Suez Strait is just 121 kilometers long between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea and is dotted with lakes that later became a canal. Before the Suez excavation, ships had to travel a dangerous route around Africa to reach markets in Asia and the Far East.
However, the French were not the first to come up with the idea for such a project. As early as 1850. Pr. Kr. Canals were dug to link valleys and lakes in the region, and in 332 m. Pr. When Alexander the Great came to earth, the Red Sea was already connected to the Nile by waterways.
When the Romans arrived in Egypt two centuries later, they worked to widen the canal, but, as before, it was designed to facilitate trade and transportation between the Nile Delta and the Red Sea, rather than connecting the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean. beyond. .
All the canals were filled in in 775, when the Abbasid caliphate entered the region. Although Venetian and later French engineers discussed building a new canal before the 18th century to gain an advantage over Portugal, the Netherlands, and England, little was done.
The idea gained momentum only during the reign of Napoleon, who, while in Egypt, was genuinely interested in the remains of the ancient canal. The idea of the legendary warrior led to further research on the canal in 1830-1850, until finally in 1856. It became official: the French Suec Canal Company obtained a 99-year lease for the construction and operation of the canal.
Official opening
At the beginning of construction, local Egyptian workers were used, and then Europeans arrived. Due to the difficult terrain, the excavation work took a little longer than planned; the project took a decade to complete.
Finally, in 1869. November 17, the Suez Canal was officially opened.
The project was originally owned by the French and then Egyptian ruler Said Pasha, but six years later, faced with financial difficulties, Egypt sold a large part of its stake. Who immediately bought all the shares of Egypt? Of course, the British.
Egypt, until 1956, when Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, continued to receive only small financial benefits for the lucrative waterway built on its territory.
During the Suez crisis, Israel invaded the Sinai and Britain considered invading Egypt, but the United States, led by Dwight Eisenhower, persuaded it not to. He threatened to financially penalize Britain if only British troops entered Egyptian territory.
Since 2015, the Suez Canal has been one of the top priorities of the Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi regime, which constantly spends money on infrastructure projects and canal development.
Prepared according to Euronews inf.
