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History

Philéas Fogg and his faithful servant Passepartout arrive in Egypte, and disembark at Suez. Today, we take it for granted that the Suez Canal is 'over there', and that we go under it when we set out to Sharm el Sheikh or St Catherine's. But in the 19th century, it was almost miraculous to be able to follow that narrow waterway and reach out to where colonies and riches lay for the taking..."Ah! L'exotisme...!"

The Suez Canal

The Suez Canal is the waterway running north to south across the Isthmus of Suez in northeastern Egypt. It connected Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of Suez. Yesterday andt today the canal has many uses and is of great importance. It provided a short route for ships going between European or American ports and ports located in southern Asia. The canal itself is 101 miles long. The bottom width of the canal is 197 feet and 64 ft. Draft ships can make the transit. Ships of 150,000 dead weight tons fully loaded could travel by it. The canal connects two points at sea level so there are no locks. The Suez Canal utilizes Lake Monzala, Lake Timsah and the Bitter Lakes. Most of it only allows single-lane traffic but there are a few passing bays and two-lane bypasses are in the Bitter Lakes and between Al-Qantarah and Al-Ismaliyah. The west bank is occupied by a railway that runs parallel to the whole canal.
The Suez was first excavated in the 13th century BC, under the rule of Seti I and Ramses II. Over the next 1000 years, the canal was neglected and all attempt to maintain it in good condition was forgotten. In 1854, Frenchman Vicomte Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps enlisted an interest in the project with the Egyptian viceroy Said Pasha. In 1858, La Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez ws formed with a goal to cut and operate a canal for 99 years, after which it was to be returned to the Egyptian government.The excavation began in 1859 and it opened in 1869. Its stock was owned by French and Egyptian interests until Egypt's shares were bought by the British government. From tht time on, the Suez canal was exploited by the British and all tha considerable income from it went to Colonial Britain.
In 1888, an international convention established that the canal was open to vessels of all nations at any time. Britain tgreatly valued the canal for its importance to maritime power and colonial interests, especially considering their economic interests in the then-British colony of India. Under the Anglo-Eyptian treaty in 1936, Britain had the right to maintain defence forces in the Suez Canal Zone. They had command of the canal approaches. In 1948, as the Israelis occupied Palestine, Israeli vessels were prohibited. In 1954, Egypt and Britain signed a new agreement that eventually resulted in Britain removing its troops from the zone. Egypt took over the British installations.