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How did the Suez Canal closure from 1967 to 1975 affect oil transportation?
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Suez Canal
Ships in the Suez Canal in Egypt. One of the world's most important shipping lanes, the Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
The closure of the Suez Canal from 1967 to 1975 significantly transformed global oil transportation by forcing a shift in shipping routes and vessel design.1
Key impacts included:
- Rerouting via the Cape: With the canal closed, oil tankers were forced to travel around the Cape of Good Hope, a much longer route that increased transit times and costs.1
- Development of Supertankers: The necessity of the longer Cape route prompted the use and development of larger oil tankers, as the direct cost of transporting oil decreases as vessel size increases.12
- Infrastructure Changes: The closure spurred the development of the Sumed pipeline, which runs from Suez to Alexandria and opened in 1977 to provide an alternative transport method for petroleum.1
Ultimately, these changes led to a long-term shift in the industry. Because many modern tankers—particularly the largest supertankers—became too large to navigate the canal even after it reopened, the waterway's relative importance in the international oil trade was permanently reduced.12