Why did Mindelo’s port activity decline after the Suez Canal opened?

In the mid-1850s, Mindelo experienced a period of economic optimism as the transition from sail to steam power created a high demand for strategic coaling stations for large, long-distance oceanic vessels. Mindelo’s deepwater harbour on Porto Grande Bay was ideally positioned to serve this need, leading to a brief period of significant port activity.12

However, this prosperity was severely curtailed by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. By providing a much shorter sea route between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, the canal fundamentally altered global shipping patterns, reducing the necessity for vessels to travel around Africa and consequently cutting deeply into the coaling business that had sustained Mindelo’s port.13