Canals & Straits

The Bosphorus in Turkey is one of the
busiest waterways in the world, linking

the Black Sea to the Aegean and
Mediterranean Seas and thence to the
outside world. All shipping bound for or
departing from the Black Sea ports of
Contanza and Odessa have to transit
this canal
19 miles long & 1 mile wide

The Panama Canal is 50 miles long and
links the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
The Suez Canal is one of the world's most
heavily used shipping lanes, with an
average of 55 ships using it daily.
Completed between 1858 - 1869, the
masterpiece of Ferdinand De Lesseps, the
Suez Canal immediately cut the distance
between Europe and the Far East, allowing
vessels to avoid the long and arduous
voyage around the Cape.
The Canal is 118 miles long and the
minimum depth is 16.1 metres.

In 1956, a joint British/French/Israeli attempt to
keep the canal out of the political control of
Egypt was thwarted and within 11 years the
Canal was closed (on 5th June 1967) for
exactly 8 years, opening again on 5th June
1975. 54 vessels had been trapped in the canal
when it was closed by Egypt.The closure led to
huge increases in the price of oil and the birth
of the VLCC (supertankers), needed to get oil
to Europe in large quantities via the Cape.

Up to 600 vessels pass through the Straits of
Dover every day, ranking it above even the
Strait of Singapore (separating Indonesia and
the city state) as the world's busiest route for
vessels.

Cargo ships, tankers and fishing boats
moving between the North Sea and Atlantic
regularly cross paths with smaller passenger
ferries shuttling between British, French and
Belgian ports
Vessels too large to go through the panama canal,
are generally called "Capsize" vessels, because they
have to take the much longer southern route (via the
Cape of Good Hope in South Africa) to pass from the
Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans (or vice versa).
However, the name "Capesize" is confusing,
because it is sometimes mistakenly thought to refer
to Cape Horn. Few ships would want to encounter
the violent weather around Cape Horn, preferring
either to go via South Africa or if they need to go via
South America, to use the calmer (and slightly
shorter) route through the Magellan Straits; a
channel that weaves its way through numerous
small islands just north of Cape Horn, and the chief
port of which is Punta Arenas.

The Straits are named after Ferdinand
Magellan, who in 1519 successfully took a fleet
of 3 ships (out of an original fleet of 5) through
these straits for the first time, while trying to
get to the Spice Islands in the Pacific. He
succeeded, but died later during the
expedition. As a light-hearted memorial to that
first transit, those who today sail on vessels
through the Straits for the first time, are often
given an offically stamped "Explorer's
Certificate", such as the one sent to us by Luiz
Gustavo Cruz from Brasil.

More than 50,000 ve.ssels per year transit
the 621 mile long Strait of Malacca. Linking
the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Straits of
Malacca is the shortest sea route between
three of the world's most populous
countries -- India, China, and Indonesia --
and therefore is considered to be the key
choke point in Asia.

The narrowest point of this shipping lane is the Phillips
Channel in the Singapore Strait, which is only 1.5 miles
wide at its narrowest point. This creates a natural
bottleneck, with the potential for a collision, grounding,
or oil spill (in addition, piracy has historically been a
regular occurrence in the Singapore Strait, but over the
past 15 years has grown alarmingly). Some 400 shipping
lines and 700 ports worldwide rely on the Malacca and
Singapore straits to get to the Singapore port. For
example, 80% of Japan's oil comes from the Middle East
via the Malacca Straits. To skip the straits would force a
ship to travel an extra 994 miles from the Gulf. All excess
capacity of the world fleet might be absorbed, with the
effect strongest for crude oil shipments and dry bulk
such as coal. Closure of the Strait of Malacca would
immediately raise freight rates worldwide. With Chinese
oil imports from the Middle East increasing steadily, the
Strait of Malacca is likely to grow in strategic importance
If there was ever a "jugular vein" for the world's
economy, then the Strait of Hormuz is where it is
situated. Near the bottom end of the 600 mile long
Persian (Arabian) Gulf, the Straits of Hormuz, at their
narrowest point are just 34 miles across, between
the Sultanate of Oman and the Islamic Republic of
Iran.

Vessels transiting the Straits of Hormuz, have to
adhere to strict traffic separation schemes, which
provide 2 mile wide channels for inbound and
outward bound vessels, with a 2 mile buffer zone in
between.

80% of the oil produced in the Persian Gulf
is transported by tanker through the Straits
of Hormuz, which means over 13 million
barrels of oil per day. Such volumes make
the Straits of Hormuz strategically vital, and
at times of international tension in the
Middle East, U.S. and British naval vessels
are always present to ensure the continued
flow of oil. Many of the small islands and
coastlines are still disputed between Oman,
Iran and the United Arab Emirates. It is
estimated that globally, 35% of oil
transported by sea, has to pass through the
strait
Linking Lake Ontario with Lake Erie
(and thence to the St. Lawrence
Seaway), avoiding the Niagara Falls

On November 30, 1824, William H. Merritt
of St. Catharines, Ontario, formed a
company to build a canal that would
bypass Niagara Falls. It was completed on
November 30, 1829.

Canals & Straits

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The Bosphorus in Turkey is one of the

busiest waterways in the world, linking

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