Context:
Egypt had to suspend navigation through the Suez canal, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, as a 400-metre-long vessel that veered off course and ran aground blocking the canal.
Relevance:
Prelims, GS-I: Geography (World Geography, Mapping)
Dimensions of the Article:
- About the Suez Canal
About the Suez Canal
The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway running north to south across the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt, to connect the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea and also separates the African continent from Asia.
It is one of the world’s most heavily used shipping lanes, carrying over 12% of world trade by volume, and acting as a crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo being shipped from East to West.
It provides the shortest maritime route between Europe and the lands lying around the Indian and western Pacific oceans.
The Suez Canal is the first canal that directly links the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, which was opened in November 1869 and controlled by British and French interests in its initial years until it was nationalized in 1956 by Egypt.
-Source: The Hindu
