SUEZ CANAL FINISHED!

Yesterday the canal was inaugurated, 40 ships luxuriously decked out sailed through the canal. On board, authorities of all the world admired the canal that connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.

The 17th of November of 1869 the canal was officially opened. With this new route, the journey to South-East Asia will be reduced by approximately 7.000 Km (4.300 mi).

In 1854, the French consul to Cairo, Ferdinand de Lesseps, presented the project of the canal to the Ottoman governor of Egypt, who gave permission to build the 163Km canal which would be located between Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula.

The construction of the canal begun in 1859 but, many factors slowed down the process, such as: the opposition of Great Britain to the construction, labor disputes and a cholera epidemy that affected the workers. Finally, they were needed 10 years to finish it.

Inauguration of the Suez Canal.

When the construction was started, the project was criticized due to the use of forced laborers which only had shovels and picks to work. Later, new workers arrived from Europe with dredgers and steam shovels to help in the construction. Despite all this work, the canal is not big enough for some ships which would run aground in the shallow waters of the canal. Is this new canal a symbol of how can we change our world with these new technological advances?