The waters south of the Middle East are a strategic area rich in energy resources – often leading to conflicts.
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What is happening in Gaza is not simply a settlement issue. There are Israeli economic interests at stake.
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Tea supplies are under threat as a shipping crisis continues in the Red Sea.
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Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea have disrupted trade between Asia and Europe – could ships cross the Arctic instead?
Tesla has temporarily suspended most of its production at its factory near Berlin.
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EV manufacturers pause production in Europe as the Red Sea shipping crisis deepens.
Ahmed Gomaa/Xinhua/Alamy Live News
With the Panama Canal in drought and the Strait of Hormuz also vulnerable to Iran, global trade routes are under severe pressure.
Show of strength: an image released by the UK ministry of defence, of the Royal Navy responding to the Houthi attack.
Owen Cooban/Ministry of Defence
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have the power to significantly destabilise global trade by endangering maritime activity in the Red Sea.
The Suez Canal is a busy shipping lane but companies are diverting ships to other routes following attacks on vessels.
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An Iran-aligned group has attacked ships in the Red Sea that it believes are heading to Israel, causing several companies to pause or divert shipments.
The container ship Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal in Egypt, viewed from the International Space Station.
NASA JSC ISS
Notable events — including the COVID-19 pandemic — have revealed the weaknesses in global supply chains. Companies need to ensure the resiliency of the manufacturing and distribution systems.
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The Suez Canal’s history has been forged over a century by multiple entities and people. Its past has been marked by colossal stumbling blocks.
A Target in Sheridan, Colorado, was very low on paper towels in November 2020.
AP Photo/David Zalubowski
Modern supply chains have become very efficient, but that means disruptions of any kind can lead to delays and shortages.
The procession of ships in the Suez canal for its opening. Illustration from the magazine “The Illustrated London News, volume LV, November 18, 1869.
DEA / BIBLIOTECA AMBROSIANA/Getty Images
Prior to the mid-19th century, the Isthmus of Suez – the 125km strip of land that lies between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea – was a quiet spot.
Beachgoers near Cairo watch a massive container ship sail to the Red Sea.
AP Photo/Amr Nabil
Before the container was standardized, loading and unloading goods was very labor-intensive, inefficient and costly.
The Ever Given was unwedged from the Suez Canal on March 29 after salvage crews battled for six days to free her.
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Driven by the promise of efficiency, container ships have grown to monstrous proportions over the past 15 years.
Suez canal: a key trade route since the mid-19th century.
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Britain’s preoccupation with the canal was as much about controlling Egypt as it was about global trade.
The Suez Canal on a normal day.
Photo by Camille Delbos/Art In All of Us/Corbis via Getty Images
Direct implications for maritime security are unlikely. But there will be ripple effects in the shipping industry and in many commercial sectors.
Suez Canal Authority
Maritime salvage experts will use a variety of techniques to free the Ever Given from the Suez Canal.
Suez Canal Authority
A bottleneck in the global shipping network will accelerate the move to more local production and shorter supply chains.
The container ship ran aground in the Suez Canal on March 23, blocking the passage of other ships and causing a traffic jam for cargo vessels.
EPA-EFE/Media Suez Canal Head Office
The Suez Canal is the ideal target for causing maximum disruption to global trade.
Soviet troops advancing at Stalingrad.
Wikimedia
Two big battles which turned the tide of World War II can tell us a great deal about some important present-day challenges.
British prime minister, Anthony Eden, and US president, Dwight Eisenhower, after a conference at the White House in 1956.
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60 years ago, Britain and the US believed they were on the same page when it came to Suez. How wrong they were.