- Why in News?
- Ship: Ever Given got stuck near the southern end of the Suez Canal due to a mishap caused by bad weather.
- Causing huge Problems.
- About
- artificial sea-level waterway.
- running north to south across the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt.
- connect the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
- shortest maritime route between Europe and the lands lying around the Indian and western Pacific oceans.
- one of the world’s most heavily used shipping lanes: 12% World Trade by Volume.
- crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo
- History
- the first canal that directly links the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.
- opened for navigation in November 1869.
- controlled by British and French interests in its initial years
- nationalised in 1956 by Egypt.
- Canal was closed five times: last time was the most serious one since it lasted for 8 years - was then reopened for navigation in June 1975.
