Why is SUEZ CANAL so Important?

You must have read about the ship named Ever Green which was stuck in the Suez canal for days. But what makes Suez Canal SO important for the world?

There are two ways you can reach western Europe from Asia.

1. Go all the way down south via South Africa (Cape of good hope) or
2. Take a shorter route via Djibouti (Gulf of Aden) towards Egypt.

To put it into perspective, around 12% of global trade passes via the Suez canal. The route becomes much smaller via the 120 miles long which helps save billions of dollars for the world.

The ship which was stuck is twice the size of the Empire State Building in New York and costs $400 million every hour to the world economy.

Suez Canal has been a good source of revenue for Egypt raking in $5.72 Billion for the year 19 – 20. The government had spent $8 Billion towards the expansion of the Canal and opened it in 2015.

Shipping industry is very globalized industry which is evident from the fact that the Ship “Ever Given” is –

1. Owned – Japanese
2. Operated – Taiwan
3. Registered – Panama
4. Managed – Germans
5. Staffed – Indians
6. Going from – Malaysia
7. Going To – The Netherlands
8. Stuck in – Egypt

Around 19,000 ships passed through the canal last year averaging 51.5 ships per day!