​Importance of the Suez Canal
The Suez Canal is considered to be the shortest link between the east and the west due to its unique geographic location; it is an important international navigation canal linking between the Mediterranean sea at Port said and the red sea at Suez .The unique geographical position of the Suez Canal makes it of special importance to the world and to Egypt as well.
This importance is getting augmented with the evolution of maritime transport and world trade. The maritime transport is the cheapest means of transport, whereas more than 80 % of the world trade volume is transported via waterways (seaborne trade). 
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The geographical position of the Suez Canal makes it the shortest route between East and West as compared with the Cape of Good Hope. The Canal route achieves saving in distance between the ports north and south of the Canal, the matter that is translated into other saving in time, fuel consumption and ship operating costs as shown in the table below:

​ F rom ​​ ​To​ ​​ ​​ ​​Distance ( Nautical Miles )
​ ​​Saving
​SC ​Cape ​Miles %
Ras Tanura​ Constanza 4144 12094 7950 66
Laver​a 4684 10783 6099 57
Rotterdam 6436 11169 4733 42
New York 8281 11794 3513 30
Jeddah Piraeus 1316 11207 9891 88
Rotterdam 3997 10797 6800 63
Tokyo Rotterdam 11192 14507 3315 23
​Singapore​ Rotterdam 8288 11755 3467 29

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  Advantages of the Suez Canal
  • It is the longest canal in the world without locks.
  • The accidents are almost nil compared with other waterways.
  •  Navigation goes day and night.
  • The Canal is liable to be widened and deepened when required, to cope with the development in ship sizes and tonnages.
  • With the adoption of the Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS) ( a system depending upon the most up-to-date radar network), vessels can be monitored and followed on every spot of the Canal and intervention in emergency cases can be taken.
  • The Suez Canal accommodates the partially loaded VLCCs and ULCCs.  

​​To see Routes & Time Saving Simulation Press here
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