Suez Canal " The link between West and East"

In March 2021, fierce winds blew a container ship off course.

In most places, this would have caused a minor incident.

But in the Suez Canal, it was a global crisis

.

This ship wasn't simply stopping other ships; it was also preventing international trade from passing through one of the most significant waterways in the world.

Since the second millennium BCE, the Suez Canal's location has attracted the attention of the region's leaders.

Traders had to travel in camel-bound caravans through the harsh desert to cross the slender isthmus dividing the Red Sea and the Nile in order to transport products from Asia to the Mediterranean basin.

This journey would be completely avoided if there were a maritime route connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean.

And other powers made attempts to build such a canal throughout the 16th century.

However, the cost, political unrest, and the constantly shifting sands complicated their plans.

A canal project was once again popular in 1798, drawing interest from all over Europe.

Individuals from Austria, Italy, Britain, and France over the ensuing decades

To Egypt's leaders, they presented their plans.

The Ottoman Empire, which at the time included Egypt, resisted these plans.

However, Egypt's political and economic independence was gradually growing, and its administration was keen to move on with the project.

When Sa'id Pasha assumed leadership in 1854, he gave his approval to a scheme from the cunning and ambitious French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps

Signed in 1854 and 1856, a pair of concessions gave de Lesseps

power to create the Suez Canal Company and fund it through the sale of shares to "capitalists of all nations."

A workforce of tens of thousands of Egyptian laborers was also guaranteed in the contracts between Sa'id Pasha and the Canal Company.

Around 20,000 workers were forcibly recruited each month starting in 1862,

excavating the canal without easy access to food or water in the hard desert environment.

Workers worked under the threat of being spanked while diseases like cholera were rampant.

Estimates of fatalities associated with construction run into the thousands.

Isma'il Pasha, the new Egyptian ruler, put an end to the forced labor in 1864, although he continued with the building.

To remove 74 million cubic meters of earth, foreign laborers from all around Europe and the Middle East toiled alongside dredgers and bucket excavators.

Due to the infrastructure needed to supply drinking water and other necessities to this enormous workforce, a thriving economy of eateries, brothels, and illicit commodities developed.

Three new cities with diverse ethnicities were founded among the commotion:

Ismailia on the middle section of the canal, Port Said on the northern Mediterranean coast

and Port Tewfiq, which is located on the canal's southern border.

The building site extended from Port Said to Suez without crossing the Nile.

And in the middle of the 1860s, after years of effort, the streams of the two seas eventually started to converge.

The completed canal measured 164 kilometers.

Having a surface width of 56 meters, it was formally opened on November 17, 1869.

The canal ultimately significantly accelerated global trade despite its initial financial struggles.

Additionally, it made it easier for many marine creatures to migrate, which significantly altered local ecosystems and food.

The canal saw considerable increase in traffic over the years.

However, Egypt was obliged to sell most of its shares in the Canal Company due to financial difficulties in 1875, which allowed Britain to seize control.

Control of the canal didn't entirely return to Egypt until President Gamal nationalized it in 1956.

A military standoff between Egypt and the United Kingdom, France, and Israel resulted from this action.

however, when resolved,

It helped the canal shed its imperialist past and became a significant source of national income for Egypt.

The Suez Canal now serves roughly 30% of all ships traveling across the world.

20,000 ships or more in total by 2021.

The Ever Given incident, however, serves as a sharp warning of how vulnerable our artificial systems can be.