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Al-Ahram Weekly 8 - 14 April 1999 Issue No. 424 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 8 - 14 April 1999 Issue No. 424
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Profile Features Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters As long as there is trade
By Aline KazandjianIf you happen to spot a gigantic ship gliding through the desert, chances are you are seeing a mirage. Then again, you could be somewhere on the Cairo-Suez road. From there, you can observe the ships passing through the Suez Canal in the distance without actually seeing the water.
Ship-spotting from the shores of Lake Timsah (Crocodile Lake) in Ismailia, one of the three cities on the shores of the Canal, is another agreeable pastime, except that the number of ships sailing through is dwindling. Slumping oil prices and the Asian economic crisis have affected traffic negatively.
At present, only about 40-50 ships a day make use of the waterway, which can accommodate almost twice that number. Income from the Canal is one of Egypt's main sources of hard currency, but revenue has declined in the past few years. The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) reported earnings of $1.76 billion for 1998, down 1.5 per cent from 1997. Less than 20 per cent of this revenue -- as against up to 75 per cent in the past -- came from oil tankers last year.
The Suez Canal was one of the shortcuts used by Phileas Fogg in his fictitious journey around the world in 80 days at the end of the last century. When the Canal was opened in 1869, it saved 65 per cent of the time it took to go by ship from Europe to Asia. When the Canal was closed to navigation between 1967 and 1975 due to the war with Israel, ships had to take the Cape route. "This gave rise to the super-tankers," says Simon Bennett, spokesman for the London-based International Chamber of Shipping, which represents ship owners. "If they had to go round the Cape, they might as well be large." Some of these giant vessels cannot pass through the Canal. He also notes that "shipping has been on the verge of a recession for years. This has resulted in too much tonnage chasing too little cargo."
When that cargo is oil, the Canal has had to face some tough competition from alternative means of transportation. The SUMED pipeline, which runs from Ain Sukhna, south of Suez city, to Sidi Kreir, west of Alexandria, transports twice as much oil as the Canal. Competition may also come from Israeli plans to construct land routes that could be used for the transportation of the oil. Admiral Ahmed Fadel, president of the SCA, dismissed these plans in the People's Assembly recently, saying that "the desires of some to compete will cost much more than any budget aimed at reducing or restricting the role of the Canal."
In order to counter the general downhill trend, however, the SCA is doing its best to increase the Canal's competitiveness and enhance its capacity. At present, seven per cent of sea-transported world trade passes through the waterway. "The Egyptians have been efficient at offering discounts and rebates to tonnage that would ordinarily find the Cape route more favourable," says Bennett, referring to long-haul commerce coming from Australia to northern Europe, for instance. In their case, the shortcut offered by the Canal is not as tempting as for shorter trips, on which the toll, reaching up to hundreds of thousands of dollars, makes sense in terms of saving on a tight schedule.
As for enhancing the Canal's capacity, several development projects have been implemented since its reopening in 1975. Imbabi Ismail Imbabi, head of the engineering department of the SCA, remembers those days. "The three cities were ghost towns," he says. "The whole place was destroyed. The Canal was a dump of bombs, mines, tanks..." It took a year of international efforts to clean up the waterway and five more years for the completion of the first major development plan. During this time, the Canal was widened by 70 to 90 metres and deepened to almost three times its original depth.
When Ferdinand de Lesseps drafted the plan for the Suez Canal, it was designed to accommodate any ship sailing the oceans at the time. Today, the Canal can only take 75 per cent of oil tankers and 95 per cent of container ships. Admiral Fadel revealed to parliament a plan to further dredge the Canal in order to accommodate around 92 per cent of oil tankers by 2010. Feasibility studies, however, are still being carried out.
Another area with a potential for improvement involves the time it takes ships to make the passage. The Suez Canal is the longest man-made canal in the world with no locks. Because a portion of its length -- 68km out of 162km -- allows the passage of only one ship, convoys coming from opposite directions have to wait in designated areas to allow the others to pass. The trip takes around 15 hours, with an additional three- to four-hour waiting period before entering the Canal at either end.
Plans to develop the area surrounding the Canal seem to be going at a faster pace. Two giant ports are under construction which will surely escalate the development of the area as an industrial and commercial centre. Currently, there is one tunnel going under the Canal; another is planned as part of the Salloum-Rafah international highway. Two state-of-the-art bridges are being built across it. A drawbridge will be constructed at Al-Firdan by 2000, and a suspension bridge will be hovering 70m above the water at Qantara by 2001. As a result, traffic going across the Canal in the next century might be more active than that flowing through it.
Whichever way the traffic goes, the Canal is sure to retain its strategic and historical importance for Egyptians. As Imbabi puts it, "we went through several wars to defend it, beginning with the British occupation. We lost many of our sons in these wars. It's very important to us." As for economics, Imbabi believes that "even if we lose oil cargo, there will always be container ships. As long as there is trade between countries, the Suez Canal will be fine." .
