The Suez Canal as an International Waterway

1943 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Halford L. Hoskins
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
East Africa ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Far East ◽  
Suez Canal ◽  
British Government ◽  
Cape Of Good Hope ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Peace And War

The Suez Canal, opened for general use on November 17, 1869, more than justified the gloomy predictions of its opponents that it would become “un second Bosphore.” Abbreviating by hundreds or thousands of miles the transit distance between important parts of the globe, it wrought a kind of revolution in maritime activities and particularly in strategical concepts of peace and war. Its consummation brought to an end more than a score of years of controversy marked by the efforts of the British Government to quash a project certain to destroy the monopoly of sea access to East Africa and the Middle and Far East via the Cape of Good Hope. Until 1869 the protection of British interests in the East had required only the maintenance of naval supremacy among the European States and a close surveillance of the Eastern Mediterranean with Malta and Constantinople as points of vantage. The cutting through of the Isthmus of Suez instantly destroyed previous schemes of British strategy by giving an almost infinite extension to the shores of the Mediterranean. With a similar projection of the problems of the Mediterranean, fundamental changes in planning and procedure, both by Great Britain and by other European States having maritime interests, were unavoidable.

scholarly journals Cyprus – meeting point for global and regional players

2020 ◽  
Vol 197 (3) ◽  
pp. 587-599
Author(s):  
Ivan Majchút
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Important Influence ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Meeting Point ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
External Actors ◽  
Cyprus Conflict

The Cyprus Island, located in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, is known for decades of conflict known as the “Cyprus conflict”. The resolution to the conflict is, first of all, influenced by the citizens of local communities. However, we should not forget about the external actors. First and foremost international organisations (UN, EU) and the significant world or regional countries (USA, Russia, Great Britain, Turkey, and Greece) are also significant and very active and efficient in this process. These countries have an important influence on activities in the Eastern Mediterranean and assert their interests in the mentioned region.

Holocene fish assemblages provide baseline data for the rapidly changing eastern Mediterranean

The Holocene ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 1438-1450
Author(s):  
Konstantina Agiadi ◽  
Paolo G Albano
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Trophic Structure ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Fish Fauna ◽  
Suez Canal ◽  
Indigenous Species ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Non Indigenous Species

The eastern Mediterranean marine ecosystem is undergoing massive modification due to biological invasions, overfishing, habitat deterioration, and climate warming. Our ability to quantify these changes is severely hindered by the lack of an appropriate baseline; most ecological datasets date back a few decades only and show already strong signatures of impact. Surficial death assemblages (DAs) offer an alternative data source that provides baseline information on community structure and composition. In this study, we reconstruct the marine fish fauna of the southern shallow Israeli shelf before the opening of the Suez Canal based on fish otoliths. We quantify the age of the otolith DAs by radiocarbon dating, and describe its taxonomic composition, geographic affinity, and trophic structure. Additionally, we test by radiocarbon dating the hypothesis that Bregmaceros, a presumed Lessepsian invader with continuous presence in the Mediterranean throughout the late Cenozoic, is a relict species. The otolith DA dates back to the mid-Holocene because 75% of the dated otoliths of the native species are older than the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, suggesting that the DA is a proper baseline for quantifying modern impacts. Consistently, 97% of the otoliths and 88% of the species we collected belong to native Mediterranean species. The native anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus dominates the DAs, although gobiids are the most diverse group (14 species, 28%). The DAs show similar trophic structure to present-day pristine Mediterranean coastal fish assemblages. Two non-indigenous species are recorded here for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, Amblygobius albimaculatus and Callogobius sp., highlighting the importance of DAs for detecting non-indigenous species. Finally, Bregmaceros otoliths are modern, not supporting the previous hypothesis that the taxon is a Pleistocene relict.

scholarly journals Possible implications of sea level changes for species migration through the Suez Canal

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eli Biton
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Red Sea ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Suez Canal ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
Species Migration ◽  
Reverse Migration ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The 19Th Century

AbstractThe Mediterranean and Red Sea, which were connected via the Suez Canal during the 19th century after eons of separation, host two distinctive ecosystems. Species invasion through the Suez Canal from the Red Sea vastly influences the ecology of the Mediterranean, but the level of reverse migration is assumed to be negligible. We present the first reconstructed flow transport record through the canal during the period 1923–2016. According to this reconstruction, the flow intensity and direction through the canal are strongly influenced by seasonal and long-term sea-level changes, which could also play a role in the characteristics of species migration through it. Our record not only supports previous observations of the unidirectional invasion until the 1980s and the accelerated species migration rates to the Mediterranean ever since, but also suggest that southward migration could have become possible since the early 1980s. The southward flow was primarily enhanced by Indian Ocean cooling and the Eastern Mediterranean Transition in deep water formation during the period 1980–2000. It was then gradually reduced by accelerated sea-level rise in the northern Indian Ocean.

scholarly journals Alien species in the Mediterranean Sea by 2012. A contribution to the application of European Union’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Part 2. Introduction trends and pathways

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Α. ZENETOS ◽  
S. GOFAS ◽  
C. MORRI ◽  
A. ROSSO ◽  
D. VIOLANTI ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alien Species ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Suez Canal ◽  
Indigenous Species ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Lessepsian Species ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Oyster Farms

More than 60 marine non-indigenous species (NIS) have been removed from previous lists and 84 species have been added, bringing the total to 986 alien species in the Mediterranean [775 in the eastern Mediterranean (EMED), 249 in the central Mediterranean (CMED), 190 in the Adriatic Sea (ADRIA) and 308 in the western Mediterranean (WMED)]. There were 48 new entries since 2011 which can be interpreted as approximately one new entry every two weeks. The number of alien species continues to increase, by 2-3 species per year for macrophytes, molluscs and polychaetes, 3-4 species per year for crustaceans, and 6 species per year for fish. The dominant group among alien species is molluscs (with 215 species), followed by crustaceans (159) and polychaetes (132). Macrophytes are the leading group of NIS in the ADRIA and the WMED, reaching 26-30% of all aliens, whereas in the EMED they barely constitute 10% of the introductions. In the EMED, molluscs are the most species-rich group, followed by crustaceans, fish and polychaetes. More than half (54%) of the marine alien species in the Mediterranean were probably introduced by corridors (mainly Suez). Shipping is blamed directly for the introduction of only 12 species, whereas it is assumed to be the most likely pathway of introduction (via ballasts or fouling) of another 300 species. For approximately 100 species shipping is a probable pathway along with the Suez Canal and/or aquaculture. Approximately 20 species have been introduced with certainty via aquaculture, while >50 species (mostly macroalgae), occurring in the vicinity of oyster farms, are assumed to be introduced accidentally as contaminants of imported species. A total of 18 species are assumed to have been introduced by the aquarium trade. Lessepsian species decline westwards, while the reverse pattern is evident for ship-mediated species and for those introduced with aquaculture. There is an increasing trend in new introductions via the Suez Canal and via shipping.

Deys, Beys and Bashaws, 1800–1830

The Great Sea ◽  
2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Abulafia
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Southern Italy ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
British Government ◽  
High Point ◽  
Peninsular War ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The Mediterranean

The battle of Trafalgar left the Mediterranean open to British shipping, but Great Britain had not yet gained incontestable mastery over the sealanes. The bitter struggle for control of Sicily and southern Italy between Britain, acting in support of King Ferdinand of Naples, and Napoleon’s armies, acting in support of Marshal Murat, who was trying to usurp the Neapolitan throne, reached a high point in July 1806 at the battle of Maida (a British victory, deep in Calabria). Maida demonstrated that Napoleon had been foolish in allowing so many troops to be pinned down in miserable conditions far from the areas in northern and central Italy he most wished to control. Earlier dreams of using Taranto as a base for controlling southern Italy and the entrance to the Adriatic and Ionian seas evaporated. Yet the British fleet was far more stretched than the story of its victories suggests. The British needed to keep open the channel of communication linking Malta to Trieste, for Trieste had become an important source of supplies from the Austrian empire, now that routes through Germany were blocked by Napoleon’s armies. And by 1808 the French seemed to be clawing back their control of the Mediterranean; they had re-established their fleet at Toulon, and there were fears of a naval attack on Naples and Sicily. The British government wondered whether there was any point pursuing war in the Mediterranean. Other concerns intruded: the French were trying to take control of Spain, and with the outbreak of the Peninsular War attention shifted to formidably tough land campaigns in Iberia. How difficult conditions were can be seen from the size of the British fleet, which had plenty of other duties to perform close to England, in the Caribbean and elsewhere. On 8 March 1808 fifteen ships of the line lay under the control of Admiral Collingwood, Nelson’s capable successor; one at Syracuse, one at Messina and one off Corfu; twelve stood guard at Cádiz. These large warships were supported by thirty-eight frigates, sloops, brigs and bomb-vessels within the Mediterranean, most of which were patrolling and reconnoitring as far afield as Turkey and the Adriatic.

scholarly journals An overlooked alien species present on the coasts of Greece (Eastern Mediterranean): the polychaete Polycirrus twisti Potts (Polychaeta: Terebellidae)

2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 239 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. SIMBOURA
Keyword(s):  
Alien Species ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Aegean Sea ◽  
Suez Canal ◽  
Polychaete Species ◽  
Marine Area ◽  
Levantine Sea ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Of Greece

The Terebellidae polychaete Polycirrus twisti Potts, 1928 had been confused in several previous records the Eastern Mediterranean with the co-generic species Polycirrus plumosusWollebaeck, 1912, because of incomplete specimens or unclear descriptions; therefore its presence in Greek seas had been overlooked. Specimens of Polycirrus twisti were currently identified from the Korinthiakos Gulf (Greece, Eastern Mediterranean), while older records from the Hellenic marine area, erroneously assigned toPolycirrus plumosus and recorded since 1983 (Rhodos island, Dodekanesse) were emended. Polycirrus twisti is an alien species, most likely introduced to the Mediterranean from the Suez Canal, while it was recently reported from the Southern coasts of Turkey (Levantine Sea). Its identification and report in Greek Seas increases the number of alien polychaete species in this area to 37 and offers a further evidence and link of its introduction and dispersion dynamics from the Suez Canal to the Levantine and Aegean Sea. The presence of the previously reported species Polycirrus plumosus in the Mediterranean Sea is therefore strongly questionable.

1914–1916

2021 ◽  
pp. 66-75
Author(s):  
Daniel-Joseph MacArthur-Seal
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
First World War ◽  
Suez Canal ◽  
World War ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Transit Route ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
First World

This sub-chapter provides an overview of the first two years of the First World War in the eastern Mediterranean. It summarises the factors that led to the breakdown of British relations with Istanbul and the Ottoman decision to enter the war on the side of the Central Powers. It shows how the Mediterranean became a key transit route for Allied colonial troops on the outbreak of the war, and provides a brief account of the failed Ottoman attempt to interrupt Allied lines of communication and raise rebellion in Egypt by attacking the Suez Canal. It also gives an overview of the development of other main fronts in the region: the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, and Gallipoli.

Great Britain and Greater Greece 1917–1920

1989 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Goldstein
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Ottoman Empire ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
First World War ◽  
Suez Canal ◽  
World War ◽  
Old Order ◽  
The First World War ◽  
First World ◽  
Critical Interest

The First World War saw the collapse of the old order in the Eastern Mediterranean with the disintegration of the Ottoman empire, an event which threatened to create a dangerous power vacuum. Great Britain for the pastcentury had attempted to prevent just such a crisis by supporting the maintenance of the territorial integrity of the Ottoman state. Britain had a number of crucial strategic concerns in the Eastern Mediterranean, in particular the Suez Canal and the Straits. The former was the more critical interest and Britain was determined to keep this essential link to its Indian empire firmly under its own control. As to the Straits Britain, which was concerned about over-extending its strategic capabilities, was content to see this critical waterway dominated by a friendly state. The question inevitably arose therefore as to what would replace the Ottoman empire. One alternative was Greece, a possibility which became increasingly attractive with the emergence of the supposedly pro-British Eleftherios Venizelos as the Greek leader in early 1917.

scholarly journals First record of the broad-banded cardinal fish Apogon fasciatus (White, 1790) from Turkey

2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 369 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. TURAN ◽  
D. YAGLIOGLU ◽  
D. ERGUDEN ◽  
M. GURLEK ◽  
B. SONMEZ
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Red Sea ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
First Record ◽  
Suez Canal ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
First Time

Two specimens of the alien cardinal fish Apogon fasciatus (White, 1790) are recorded for the first time from Turkey and second time from the Mediterranean Sea. This is the fourth Indo-Pacific apogonid species documented in the Mediterranean Sea, and the introduction of this species to the eastern Mediterranean is due to migration from the Red Sea via the Suez Canal.

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