Previous closures occurred in the Suez Canal

Weather of Arabia - after the accident of the ship's stranding Evergiven and its closure of the water crossing in the Suez Canal , and caused the disruption of maritime navigation and the movement of international trade that passes through the canal, as about 12% of the volume of global trade passes through the Suez Canal, and the canal crossed in 2020 about 19 thousand A ship with a net tonnage of 1.17 billion tons, an average of 51.5 ships per day, and the canal is an important source of income for Egypt, as its revenues last year amounted to $ 5.61 billion. Was this an exceptional event? Has the Suez Canal ever been closed to international shipping?

The Suez Canal was opened in 1869, and since that time the canal has been affected by many political fluctuations, weather factors and even ship accidents that led to it being closed several times. Here we review some of the stories of the closure that occurred in the Suez Canal previously.

1. The year 1882: This was the first time that the Suez Canal was closed to navigation and the crossing of ships, and that was 13 years after the opening of the canal, as a result of the events that the country witnessed and the Arab resistance to prevent the British occupation of Egypt, and the matter lasted for two days .

2. The year 1885: The second time , on June 10, 1885, was due to a collision of a dredger (a water bulldozer) with a ship, and the accident led to the sinking of the dredger and suspension of navigation for 11 days.

3. The year 1905: The third time was on September 2, 1905, at Kilo 18, due to a collision between two ships, which led to a fire in one of them, and navigation was suspended for 10 days.

4. The year 1915: The fourth time was in February 1915, when navigation in the canal stopped due to World War I and a number of ships sank in Bogaz Port Said.

5. 1940-1942: The canal was closed during World War II, from August 28, 1940 to July 27, 1942.

6. 1952: In September of 1952 the canal was closed due to the sinking of a ship at km 85 in the northern sector near Port Said.

7. 1956: The canal was closed due to the tripartite aggression against Egypt in 1956 when 48 ships, locomotives and sea vessels sank inside it, and it was reopened in 1957.

8. 1967: This was after the June 5, 1967 war, which caused the Suez Canal to stop and prevent the passage of ships in it for 8 years, which started from June 5, 1967 to June 4, 1975, during which time the world suffered heavy losses due to its closure. The ships were forced to take refuge on the Cape of Good Hope and pass around Africa, until the late President Anwar Sadat inaugurated it on June 5, 1975, after the signing of the second disengagement agreement between Egypt and Israel.

9. 2015: The original course of the canal in 2012 saw a Greek ship run aground after its engines malfunction, which led to disruption of navigation until rescue units were able to tow it.

10. 2014: A collision occurred between a container ship flying the German flag and another flying the Singapore flag. This caused the temporary disruption of navigation in the waterway of the Suez Canal.