Suez Canal photos
Suez Canal
Suez Canal
Suez Canal
Suez Canal description
The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
Opened on November 1869, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigating around Africa. The northern terminus is Port Said and the southern terminus is Port Tawfik at the city of Suez.
The canal is 192 km long with Ismailia, on the west bank, 3 km north of the half-way point. It consists of the northern access channel of 19.5 km, the canal itself of 162.25 km and of the southern access channel of 8.5 km. It is single lane with passing places in Ballah By Pass and in the Great Bitter Lake. It contains no locks; seawater flows freely through the canal into the Great Bitter Lake from both the Mediterranean Sea in the north and the Red Sea in the south, replacing evaporation.
The canal is owned and maintained by the Suez Canal Authority of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Under international treaty, it may be used “in time of war as in time of peace, by every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag“.
