Suez Canal ship aground, heralded greater risk

Since mankind invented the means of water transportation, the volumetric capacity has not exceeded this by any means of transport on the ground. Excluding the shortcomings of speed, the ship’s function as a means of transport is so excellent. So since ancient times, rivers have served as a distribution network like the current highway, and the great powers made waterways even by dividing the land.

Water management is one of the prerequisites of civilization, as records show that around 4000 BC Mesopotamians also used artificial water channels. In particular, because the scale of the canal as a means of transportation that is not a water function is so large that it cannot be compared to a normal waterway, only the strongest political forces of the time in history have been struggling.

The Grand Canal, which connects the north and the south of China, was completed over 800 years, from the Sui Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty. As one of the major reasons for the collapse of the Sui Dynasty was unreasonable canal construction, even the powerful nations may have staggered national finances after the construction of the canal.

The reason why they want to build the canal even at the cost of financial risks is, of course, that the economic returns and other benefits after completion are enormous. The waterway made by dividing the land has a higher investment cost than the land route made by dividing the water, but the cost of profit is incomparably higher. Canal construction has been a symbolic and adventurous national project of powerful political groups from the past, and is often at the crossroads of national luck.

In the case of a canal that connects the sea, not a river, the dimension is different. Despite such astronomical costs, the reason for the construction of the sea canal is also because of the enormous profits that follow. That is why wars between countries have also fought over the construction, operation, and ownership of canals. There are even conspiracy to try to’if I can’t own it, I can’t get anyone else’.

There are two canals connecting the sea so far: the Suez Canal in Egypt and the Panama Canal in Panama. However, these two countries did not directly create the canal. As mentioned earlier, if the sea canal was built, it is the strongest country of its time. However, neither Egypt nor Panama have enough finances to be called the strongest. Even Panama is a country that was born after the construction of the canal.

Suez Canal has changed history

The first construction of the Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean Sea in the north of Egypt and the Red Sea in the east, dates back to ancient times. From ancient times, Egypt’s knowledge of civil engineering and mathematics was at the highest level, but it was impossible to build a canal in its present location with the technology of that time. From Suez to Lake Amer, which borders the Red Sea, is the same channel as it is today, but the northern part of it is not directly connected to the Mediterranean Sea, but to the rightmost tributary of the tributaries of the lower Nile River. The sea and the sea were not directly connected, but the river was the medium. The first shovel came from Egypt, but was completed by Persia, who occupied Egypt.

Today’s Suez Canal began in 1805 under the control of Muhammad Ali, virtually independent from the Ottoman Empire that had occupied Egypt until then. Egypt, free from the Ottoman sphere of influence, formed friendly relations with France at the time of Napoleon III, and France conceived and realized the Suez Canal as a way to head to Asia without going all the way to the southern tip of Africa.

The French government tried to maintain dominance by not investing directly, but by letting the Egyptian government pay a little more than half of the French private capital and less than half. However, after losing the war with Prussia, which took place two years after its completion, it was virtually withdrawn from the operation of the canal due to the financial burden.

The Egyptian government, which became embarrassed by the French secession, put all of its stocks on the market, and it was none other than Britain who bought them. In the aftermath of the defeat of the war, France lost a great deal of foreign wealth, and Britain, who became the largest shareholder of the Suez Canal through fishermen’s geography, was able to accelerate its sailing to Asia and accelerate the world conquest of the sunless world.

If the Suez Canal was not built, or if Britain did not own the control of the canal, one might wonder if the traces of British rule remaining on the borders of many Asian countries to this day remain the same.

Of course, British rule over India and other Asian regions began shortly before the canal was completed. However, I also think that if the journey to India around the southern tip of the Cape of Good Hope in Africa continued during the period of rule, their dominance might not have been the same as the reality in history. Even more so in the case of Russia.

At first glance, Russia and Japan may be considered neighboring countries, but that is the current idea. In the past, when Siberia was not developed as it is now, Russia at the time was only a European country centered on Moscow, and it took weeks for the main army to reach the Far East. And there were only 100,000 soldiers in the Far East, which was absolutely inferior compared to 250,000 in Japan.

The situation of the naval power was more. The main fleet of the Russian Navy had to travel from the Baltic Sea to the Atlantic Ocean in the north, or the Mediterranean Sea from the Black Sea in the south, to the southern tip of Africa, through the Indian Ocean, to the Philippines and to Japan. As it is now, the Arctic Ocean at that time was a sea that could not be used despite a short distance due to ice.

After reaching Japan after such a journey that took several months, it would have been difficult for even the young men to stand still, let alone war. It is not only speculation that if the Russian fleet had been able to pass through the Suez Canal, the aspects of the war could have changed at least a little.

The reason why the Russian fleet did not use the Suez Canal will be described later, but anyway, the Russian fleet that arrived off the coast of Tsushima was defeated by the Japanese fleet in the world’s interest in the largest naval battle in history. The result of the Battle of Tsushima, which ended with such a one-sided victory by Japan, leads to the Treaty of Portsmouth, as we know it, resulting in the recognition of Japan’s control over the Korean peninsula.

As such, the existence of the Suez Canal changed or could have changed various scenes of history, and actually changed the fate of many peoples. In 1956, 87 years after the opening of the canal, Egypt, full of nationalist fever, declared nationalization of the Suez Canal, and of course, the British, which strongly opposed, attracted France and Israel to declare a one-sided war against Egypt. This is the Second Middle East War.

Here, too, a scenario that can be expected is the result of Egypt losing control of the canal again, but history often flows differently from the judgments before our eyes. Despite the lack of objective power, Egypt was able to maintain control of the Suez Canal, even though it lost in the war. This is because the Soviet Union, who succeeded Russia, was supporting Egypt with strong military power this time.

The United States, who did not want to expand the war, prevented it from touching the dominance of the canal despite the victory of its allies, Britain, and Egypt, with unexpected results, became an opportunity to be recognized as the strongest in the Middle East. On the contrary, despite the victory of the war, Britain, which failed to achieve its original purpose under pressure from the United States, is brutally affirmed that it has handed over the world’s strongest position to the United States.

What was left of the ship aground case

In addition, there are countless other history that the appearance of the Suez Canal has changed. The paradigm shift due to the development of technology is also a reason, but the existence of the Suez Canal has also created an opportunity for existing sailboats to rapidly decline and steamships to become the mainstream. Unlike the Atlantic Ocean, which runs coolly using the wind, it is difficult to pass through the calm Suez Canal with a sailing boat.

As the width and depth of the canal are limited, in order to use the Suez Canal, the ship must be built according to the’Suez size’. That’s why Suezmax was created. It is a 130,000 to 150,000-ton ship that can pass through the Suez Canal with full loads. In addition, ship sizes are categorized by cape size, panamax, etc. according to the standards of the canal and port that can accommodate ships.

As mentioned earlier, the reason why the Russian fleet was unable to use the Suez Canal was because the Russian fleet did not meet the standards of the Suez Canal at the time. As if in land battles, no matter how good there are tanks, you cannot advance if the length is limited. The infrastructure that enables the means of transportation is as important as the means of transportation.

On March 23, the Ever Given ship of Taiwan’s Evergreen Shipping, owned by Japan’s Shoei Ship, departing from Malaysia and heading to the Netherlands, was stranded in the middle of the Suez Canal channel for unknown reasons. Although it passed the Suez Max standard, a vessel whose length was longer than the width of the canal stood at an angle and completely blocked the canal.

Seven days after the accident, the ship was resuspended and the canal was reopened, but at both ends of the Suez Canal, where 50 ships a day passed, there was a rare scene where hundreds of ships were waiting in line until operation resumed. There were also ships detouring under South Africa because they couldn’t wait.

However, the magnitude of the damage is astronomical to dismiss it as a ridiculous happening. It is said that the damage suffered by the global shipping industry in this accident is estimated to be 1.02 trillion won per day. As the scale of the damage is large, the battle for responsibility leading to the court is expected to be fierce.

Above all, the potential security risks were exposed. In that respect, it’s even fortunate that this accident made us think about prevention. It is also of new concern that major distribution networks linking Europe and Asia will be concentrated in this one place.

It is also thought that if the Eurasian Railroad, which connects Busan to Europe, is connected, the current transport industry ecosystem, which is highly dependent on marine transport in many dimensions, such as cost, time, and environment, can be changed. In the bulletin, we talked about the usefulness of ships, such as the best volumetric capacity, but because ships are also the means of transport that cause the best pollution.