What is the Suez Canal, and why is it so important for shipping?

The Suez Canal is a man-made waterway connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea. It enables a more direct route for shipping between Europe and Asia, effectively allowing for passage from the North Atlantic to the Indian Ocean without having to circumnavigate the African continent.

Explanation:

From Google

Let's look at the route between two major shipping ports, one in Europe (Hamburg) and one in Asia (Singapore).

Hamburg to Singapore via the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa: 11,864 nautical miles

Hamburg to Singapore via the Suez Canal: 8,377 nautical miles

(A statute mile is 5,280 feet in length; a nautical mile is 6,076.11549... feet in length.)

That is a difference of 3,487 nautical miles. For the average ship steaming at 18 knots (18 nautical miles per hour), that's 193.72 hours or just over 8 days. So the Suez Canal literally saves over an entire week off of the transit from Europe to Asia.

That means money.

Less money that has to be spent on fuel to get the ship there, food for the crew for those 8 days not spend at sea, and less cost to shippers to send those good.

It also means more goods transported in a year, so manufacturers make more, shippers make more, and the consumer gets more and gets it faster.

Without the Suez Canal, everything increases in price. Not to mention the Cape of Good Hope is a notoriously dangerous shipping route with frequent and bad storms. That means not only does it take longer, but it's more dangerous.

A shorter route, a faster route, a less dangerous route, and a less expensive route. What's not to like?

(You can use this same analogy for the Panama Canal and transits around Cape Horn and South America)

hi there,

on december 11, 2001, china officially became the 143rd member of the

world trade organization (wto) in the culmination of a negotiation

process which began in 1986. economists have long been debating the

global effects of china's accession to the wto, and as china becomes

fully integrated into the organization over the next several years,

the accuracy of their predictions will be tested.

one of the biggest residual effects of china's entry to the wto,

according to economists, will be the relocation of manufacturing and

distribution centers to china. due to its cheap labor, cheap

industrial land, and educated workforce, china is an ideal production

centre for businesses based in outside countries. this will likely

result in a twofold impact – more jobs will be available in china,

while countries like india, which have historically offered cheap

labor, will suffer. taiwan and malaysia's technology industries are

already suffering as companies like dell computers move production to

china, and while foreign investment soars in china, other asian

countries suffer. in addition, mexico and the caribbean will lose

thousands of garment manufacturing jobs as the u.s. lifts restraints

on chinese textile imports.

while the impact on southeast asia may be negative, the western world

may benefit. while some suggest china's open borders will result in

increased competition and a decreased employment rate for the western

world, western countries will benefit from access to china's highly

developed electronics and industry sectors. with duties and quotas

slashed, and restrictions lifted, multinationals will benefit by

setting up distribution centers without the need for chinese

middlemen. in addition, it's expected that china will import massive

amounts of food products, machinery and vehicles from the u.s., japan,

hong kong, taiwan, singapore and south korea, thus providing

significant boosts to these countries' economies.

in conclusion, it seems that while western countries may benefit from

china's accession to the wto, there's the potential that asian and

south american countries may feel the pinch of free trade as china

moves to a global economy.