SHALINI SAKSENA speaks with KRA NARASIAH, a marine engineer, maritime historian and an award-winning author, on what the opening of the Suez Canal meant for the shipping industry and that there is a proposal by Israel to construct similar canal called Ben Gurion Canal
What were the challenges that shipping faced before the Suez Canal opened?
One of the biggest challenge was that all the traffic was from India to Europe and the ships had to go around the Cape of Good Hope (Africa). Opening of the canal on Nover 25, 1869 saved sailing days of 23 days for a steam vessel and the distance of 3,800 nautical miles (7,000 km). It took 10 years for the canal to be built.
How did the maritime industry change once it opened?
The effect on the economy was excellent as fuel cost reduced considerably. More ships started using the canal and maritime trade benefitted. More importantly, Indian tea trade saw a great increase and flourished.
How did the opening of the Canal affect India and how it started trading?
Almost 50 ships traverse through the canal daily and an annual throughput of 300 million tonnes is handled through this canal.
Why is the Suez Canal important globally?
There are three marine choke points and Suez is one of them. Other two being the Panama Canal and Malacca Strait.
Do you think that the recent blockage by Ever Given will lead to the shipping industry looking for alternative routes given the losses?
I don’t think that the industry will look for alternatives. Though there is a proposal of Israel to construct another canal East of this; it is parallel to it and called Ben Gurion Canal. But it will take some years. However, this shutdown was for a very short time compared with the closure from 1967 to 1975 for eight long years and some ships were stuck inside and could not sail out.
Should the shipping industry put so much importance on one canal?
Well, when the canal was closed for eight long years due to political reasons, ships did go round the Cape of Good Hope. I sailed round the Cape a number of times back then.
Do you think it is a wake-up call for those who have set up business to rely on supply chains with little room for error?
There are incidences like this and human errors cannot be ruled out. Risk factors are high today due to heavy costs of operation.
Was what happened a lesson that the shipping industry had to learn?
Shippers keep learning. We have so many road accidents — what have we learnt from them?
