Suez Canal Legal Status

There is a shipping lane with passing areas in the Ballah ring road near El Qantara and in the Great Bitter Lake. On a typical day, three convoys cross the canal, two heading south and one north. The passage lasts between 11 and 16 hours at a speed of about 8 knots (15 km/h; 9 mph). The low speed helps prevent shoreline erosion by towing vessels. As mentioned above, the ship Ever Given blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week, which had many consequences: delays in shipping goods, possible damage to the goods or the ship itself, and damage to the canal during dredging. In addition, the blockade delayed hundreds of ships unable to cross the canal during this period, some of which were hijacked around the Horn of Africa (a move that entails its own liabilities and potential delays, as well as lower revenues for the Suez Canal Authority). With a litany of actors involved in the operation, rescue and insurance of the ship, liability disputes between these actors seem inevitable. Two potentially important areas of litigation can be insurance and rescue disputes, as discussed below. According to YAR Rule B.1, rescue operations are not an ordinary maritime adventure (and therefore the general rules of average do not apply to them); Therefore, various legal questions could arise regarding the rewards for the rescue operations that saved the Ever Given.

Since the canal does not serve unregulated two-way traffic, all vessels sail in convoys at regular times on a 24-hour basis. Each day, only one northbound convoy leaves Suez at 04:00. The convoy follows the eastern route on two lanes. [99] [100] [101] Synchronized with the passage of this convoy is the southbound convoy. It starts at 03:30 in Port Said and passes the northbound convoy in the two-lane section. In 1854 and 1856, Ferdinand de Lesseps obtained a concession from Said Pasha, Khedive of Egypt and Sudan, to establish a company for the construction of a canal open to ships of all nations. The company operated the canal for 99 years from its opening. De Lesseps had benefited from his friendly relationship with Said, which he had established as a French diplomat in the 1830s. As stipulated in the concessions, Ferdinand convened the International Commission for the Piercing of the Isthmus of the Suez, composed of 13 experts from seven countries, including John Robinson McClean, later president of the Institution of Civil Engineers in London, and again Negrelli to examine the plans developed by Linant de Bellefonds. and to advise on the feasibility and best route of the canal. After research and analysis in Egypt and discussions in Paris on various aspects of the canal, where many of Negrelli`s ideas prevailed, the commission issued a unanimous report in December 1856 containing a detailed description of the canal with plans and profiles. [50] The Compagnie universelle du canal maritime de Suez was founded on December 15, 1858.

Despite negotiations with the ruling Mamluks in Egypt, the Venetian plan to build the canal was quickly shattered by the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517 under the leadership of Sultan Selim I.[42] With Necho`s death, work was stopped. Herodotus relates that the reason the project was abandoned was a warning from an oracle that others would benefit from its success. [12] [33] The Necho War with Nebuchadnezzar II most likely prevented the continuation of the canal. Before August 2015, the canal was too narrow for free two-way traffic, so ships passed in convoys and used bypasses. The bypasses were 78 km (48 miles) by 193 km (120 miles) (40%). From north to south, these are: Port Said Bypass (entrances) 36.5 km (23 miles), Ballah Bypass & anchorage, 9 km (6 miles), Timsah bypass 5 km (3 miles) and the Deversoir bypass (northern end of Great Bitter Lake) 27.5 km (17 miles). The bypasses were completed in 1980. After the Yom Kippur War, the United States launched Operation Nimbus Moon.

The amphibious assault ship USS Inchon (LPH-12) was sent to the English Channel with 12 HM-12 RH-53D minesweeper helicopters. They partially cleared the canal between May and December 1974. It was replaced by LST USS Barnstable County (LST1197). The British Royal Navy launched Operation Rheostat and Task Group 65.2 considered Operation Rheostat One[76] (six months in 1974), minehunters HMS Maxton, HMS Bossington and HMS Wilton, the Fleet Clearance Diving Team (FCDT)[77] and HMS Abdiel, a minelaying support ship / MCMV; and for Operation Rheostat Two[78] (six months in 1975) the minehunters HMS Hubberston and HMS Sheraton and HMS Abdiel. Once the canal clearance was completed, the canal and its lakes were considered 99% mine-free. The canal was later reopened by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat aboard an Egyptian destroyer that led the first convoy north to Port Said in 1975. [79] At his side was Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who was to represent his father, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. The cruiser USS Little Rock was the only U.S. Navy ship in the convoy. [80] King Darius said: I am Persian. From Persia I conquered Egypt.

I have ordered that this channel be dug from the river called the Nile, which flows in Egypt, to the sea, which begins in Persia. When the canal had been dug as I had ordered, ships from Egypt passed through this canal to Persia as I had planned. The most frequently cited legal definition of “grand average” is “all losses incurred as a result of sacrifices or extraordinary expenses for the maintenance of the ship and losses of cargo on a general average and which are to be borne proportionately by all interested parties”. The Convention of Constantinople of 1888 declared the canal a neutral zone under the protection of the British, who had occupied Egypt and Sudan at the request of Khedive Tewfiq to suppress the Urabi uprising against his rule. The revolt lasted from 1879 to 1882. Following British involvement on the side of Khedive Tewfiq, Britain took control of the canal in 1882. The British defended the strategically important passage against a major Ottoman attack in 1915, during World War I. [71] Under the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936, Britain retained control of the canal. The canal was again strategically important during World War II in 1939-1945, and Italian-German attempts to conquer it were repulsed during the North African campaign, during which the canal was closed to Axis shipping. In 1951, Egypt terminated the treaty, and in October 1954, Britain agreed to withdraw its troops. The withdrawal was completed on 18 July 1956.

In 1955, about two-thirds of Europe`s oil flowed through the canal. About 8% of the world`s maritime trade takes place through the English Channel. In 2008, 21,415 ships passed through the canal and revenues amounted to $5.381 billion,[90] with an average cost per vessel of $251,000. As efforts are still ongoing, legal and rights issues will be highlighted later after the release of the Ever Given. It is clear that the saga of Ever Given will continue long after the canal is cleared. Due to Egyptian overtures with the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States withdrew their promise to support the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser responded by nationalizing the canal on 26 July 1956[72] and transferring it to the Suez Canal Authority to finance the dam project with canal revenues. On the same day the canal was nationalized, Nasser also closed the Strait of Tiran to all Israeli ships. [73] This led to the Suez Crisis, in which Britain, France and Israel invaded Egypt. According to the war plans pre-agreed in the Sèvres Protocol, Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula on October 29, forced Egypt to engage it militarily, and allowed the Anglo-French partnership to declare the resulting fighting a threat to stability in the Middle East and to go to war – ostensibly to separate the two forces. but in reality to reconquer the canal and overthrow the Nasser government. [ref.

needed] In 1973, during the Yom Kippur War, the canal was the scene of a major Egyptian army crossing into Israeli-occupied Sinai and an Israeli army counter-passage into Egypt. Much debris from this conflict is visible on the banks of the canal. [75] There are two national legal instruments on the Suez Canal: the 1956 Presidential Decree on the Nationalization of the Suez Canal and Law No. 30 of 1975 on the Organization of the Suez Canal. These national instruments are part of the international law of the Suez Canal and international organizations operating in the area adjacent to the Suez Canal. The reliefs of Punt`s expedition under Hatshepsut, 1470 BC. AD, show seagoing ships with the expeditionary force returning from Punt. This suggests that there was a navigable connection between the Red Sea and the Nile. [23] Recent excavations at Wadi Gawasis may indicate that Egypt`s maritime trade originated in the Red Sea and did not require a canal. [ref.

needed] Evidence seems to indicate its existence in the 13th century BC at the time of Ramses II. [11] [24] [25] [26] Lloyd`s estimates westbound canal traffic at about $5.1 billion per day and eastbound traffic at about $4.5 billion per day.