Suez Canal Authority

1859
1869
1882
1914
1940
1954

Suez Canal

1956
1975
1980
1994
1996
2002
2008

Figures & Photos

SC in the History

Suez Canal Authority

1887 BC Canal of the Pharos - Sesostris ( Senusret III )

1310 BC Canal of the Pharos - ( Seti I )
610 BC Canal of the Pharos - ( Necho )
510 BC Canal of the Persians - ( King Darius )
285 BC Canal of the Ptolemans - ( Ptolemy II )
117 AD Canal of the Romans - ( Trajan )
640 AD Canal of Arab ( Emir El-Mo meneen )

Canal of Sesostris

Linking the two seas through the Nile

branches

Days to Remember

17/11/1869
26/7/1956
15/9/1956
29/10/1956
10/4/1957
5/6/1967
6/10/1973
5/6/1975
16/12/1980

Suez Canal Authority

Inauguration of the Suez Canal

Nationalization of the Suez Canal
Withdrawal of foreign pilots
Closure of the Suez Canal ( 1956 War )
Reopening the Canal following the Suez War
Closure of the Canal ( 1967 War )
October War
Reopening the Canal after October War
The Canal Development Project ( First Stage )

Digging of the SC (1)

Suez Canal Authority

First Concession Agreement - 30 November 1854

Founding the Suez Canal Company -15 December 1858
Start of digging - 27 April 1859
End of digging works - 12 August 1869

Digging and sand removal works

First digging works

Digging of the SC (2)

Suez Canal Authority

Volume of excavation
74 million cubic meters of sand

Digging Costs
369 million French Francs
( 14 million Egyptian Pounds )

Digging Costs
369 million French Francs
( 14 million Egyptian Pounds )

Digging works at Ismailia

Peoples worked in the digging

1.5 million
Peoples lost their lives
120,000
Laborers during the digging works

Stages of Digging

Suez Canal Authority

(1)-18 March 1862

)1(

Mediterranean waters had flowed into Lake Timsah

)2(

(2)- 18 March 1869

Mediterranean waters had reached the Bitter Lakes

)4(
(3)- 15 August 1869
)3(

Red Sea waters had reached the small Bitter Lakes

(4)- 18 August 1869

The two seas had been linked

SC Inauguration Ceremony

Suez Canal Authority

Opening Ceremony in Egypt (1)

17 November 1869

Ceremonys attendances
6000 Dignitaries

Main Stage for high-ranking Dignitaries

Ceremonys Cost
LE 2 million

Dinner banquet in Ismailia

SC Inauguration Ceremony

Suez Canal Authority

Opening Ceremony in Egypt (2)

Hundreds of tents, a luxurious palace,

an opera house
and
more than 77 vessels & boats on Lake Timsah were at the disposal of the
honored guests

SC Inauguration Ceremony

Suez Canal Authority

Opening Ceremony in Egypt (3)

State delegates
who attended the Ceremony

Guests of
the Inauguration Ceremony

Development of the Waterway

1869

1956

At
Present

Description
Overall
length

Km

164

175

190.3

Doubled
parts

Km

29

78

Canal depth

10

14

22.5

Permissible
max.
draught

Ft

22

35

62

Permissible
max. size of
laden ship

1000
DWT

30

220

Suez Canal Authority

Night traffic started on

1st March 1887

Suez Canal Authority

Convention of Constantinople

Suez Canal Authority

19 October 1888
( Guaranteed Right of Passage of all Ships through the SC )
It was signed by Great Britain, Germany, Austro-Hungary,
Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, and Turkey

Persons in the History of SC

Suez Canal Authority

Before the Digging of the Present Canal

The Pharaoh
(Senusret III) 610 BC

Persian King
(Darius) 510 BC

Ptolemy II
285 BC

Roman King
(Trajan) 117 AD

Persons in the History of SC

Suez Canal Authority

During the Digging of the Present Canal

Said Pasha,
De Lesseps
(1805-1894)

Viceroy of Egypt
(1863-1854)

Khedive Ismail
(1863-1879)

Egypts Rulers & Kings before 1952

Suez Canal Authority

Viceroy Said

Khedive Ismail

Khedive Tewfiq

Khedive Abbas Helmi II

( 1854 1863 )

( 1863 1879 )

( 1879 1892 )

( 1892 1914 )

Sultan Hussain Kamel

King Fouad I

King Farouk I

( 1914 1917 )

( 1917 1936 )

( 1936 1952 )

Egypts Presidents after 1952

Mohammed Naguib
( 1952 1954 )

Anwar Al-Sadat
( 1970 1981 )

Suez Canal Authority

Gamal Abdel Nasser

( 1954 1970 )

Hosni Mubarak
( 1981 2011)

SC Chairmen

Suez Canal Authority

( Before the Nationalization of the SC - 26 July 1956 )

De Lesseps
( 1855 1894 )

Jules Guichard
( 1894 1896 )

Charles Jonnart
) 1913 1927 )

Louis de Vog
( 1927 1948 )

Prince Auguste-Louis-Albric
( 1896 1913 )

Franois Chales -Roux

) 1948 - 1956 )

SC Chairmen

Suez Canal Authority

( After the Nationalization of the SC - 26 July 1956 )

Dr. Helmi Bahgat Badawy
( 1956 1957 )

Eng. M. Ezzat Adel

( 1984 1995 )

Eng. Mahmoud Younis

( 1957 1965 )

Eng. Mashhour A. Mashhour

( 1965 1983 )

Admiral Ahmed Fadel

( 1996 Present )

Doubled Parts of the SC

1)- Port-Said Bypass ( 27 km - Dug in 1980 )

2)- Ballah Bypass ( 10 km - Dug in 1955 )

3)- Timsah Bypass ( 4 km - Dug in 1980 )
4)- Difresoir & kabreet Bypass ( 27 km - Dug in 1980 )

Suez Canal Authority

Suez Canal Authority

Events and Wars

(1)- British Occupation of Egypt
13 September 1882

Tel El-Kebir battle was the beginning

of the British occupation of Egypt
which lasted for 72 years

Orabi deceived by the promise of

De Lesseps that the canal not be used
for war purpose, had opposed the idea
of closing the canal to protect Egypt
against British Occupation
Tal El-Kebir Battle

Events and Wars

Suez Canal Authority

(2)- War 1956

29 October 1956
The Israeli attack
31 October 1956
The British / French attack
1 November 1956
Interruption of the navigation

SC remained under Egypts

stewardship for 99 days
from its nationalization
to the closure due to the war

23 December 1956
Egypt retrieved Port Said
( Victory Day )

Events and Wars

Suez Canal Authority

(3)- War 1967

World economy sustained

a loss of US$ 7 Billion

SC was closed for 8 years

( 5 June 1967 to 5 June 1975 )

Suez Canal Authority building in Port Said

Events and Wars

Suez Canal Authority

(4)- War 1973

Egyptian flag hoisted on

Bar Lev fortified line

Egyptian soldiers overrun the

ramparts along the Canal

Second re-opening of SC

Suez Canal Authority

( 5 June 1975 )

A note commemorating the

re-opening occasion

Re-opening ceremony
in Port-Said

Dates of SC closures

Suez Canal Authority

5 Days In August 1882 during the British aggression on Egypt

76 Days During the world war II
4 Days ( 31/12/1954 - 4/1/1955 ) - Tankers collision with Ferdan bridge
159 Days ( 2/11/1956 - 10/4/1957 ) - The tripartite aggression on Egypt
8 Years ( 5/6/1967 - 4/6/1975 ) - Following the 1967 war
3 Days ( 7/11/2005 - 9/11/2005 ) - when a vessel grounded at km 62

Traffic Statistics

Suez Canal Authority

1869

1956

2008

No of vessels

104

3 291

22 000

Net Ton

81 000 Ton

107 M. Ton

900 M. Ton

Toll Revenues

FF 1.3 Million

US$ 39 Million

US$ 5 Billion

SC Share of World
Seaborne Trade

10 %

Saving in Distance via SC

Rotterdam

Via Cape
11 169 mile

Via SC
6 436 mile

Ras Tanura

From

To

Saving
N. Miles

Lavera

966

57

Rotterdam

7334

42

Jeddah

Pireas

8879

88

Singapore

Rotterdam

6473

29

Ras Tanura

Suez Canal Authority

Traffic System

Suez Canal Authority

Three convoys / day ( 2 Southbound & 1 Northbound )

N2

Pilotage is compulsory in the Canal

( 4 Pilots are assigned for each ship throughout its trip

N1

in the Canal )

Permissible speed is 13 - 14 km / hr
Time interval between vessels is 10-16 min

Average transit time is 12 - 15 hrs

or 2 - 3 km

Thanks