Macro-engineering

They pass through the Suez Canal – They come because the sea temperature is rising and the number of sea turtles, their main predator, is decreasing – See photos

The U.N. trade body has sounded an alarm that global trade is being disrupted by attacks in the Red Sea, the war in Ukraine, and low water levels in the Panama Canal.

Jan Hoffmann, a trade expert at UNCTAD, warned that shipping costs have already surged and energy and food costs are being affected, raising inflation risks.

In a concerning development for global trade, the Suez Canal has experienced a dramatic drop of more than 40% in traffic volume, attributed to repeated attacks by Yemen rebels on merchant ships. The United Nations, through data provided by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), expresses deep concerns about the implications of these disruptions on worldwide commerce.

The Panama Canal delivered $2.5 billion to the national treasury for last year's operations, the government has said, despite record-low water levels that limited ship transits.

About six percent of global maritime trade passes through the canal each year, and the Panama Canal Authority earns money from tolls and services rendered to ships.

The Panama Canal, an engineering wonder allowing ships to travel between two oceans, is seeking to adapt to climate change after a biting drought has seen traffic and income dry up.

The canal relies on rainwater to move ships through a series of locks that function like water elevators, raising the vessels up and over the continent between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

A Hong Kong-flagged ship briefly ran aground Thursday in Egypt's vital Suez Canal, though authorities said they were able to refloat it after it momentarily disrupted the waterway.

Egypt has said that it will increase transit fees for vessels, including oil-laden tankers, passing through Suez Canal, one of the world's most crucial waterways.

The Suez Canal Authority said in a statement on Sept. 17 that it will add 15 percent to the fees for tankers carrying oil and petroleum products, and 10 percent for dry bulk carriers and cruise ships.

Egypt's Suez Canal Authority announced yesterday an all-time revenue record, earning $7 billion during the last fiscal year following a series of toll hikes for vessels transiting the vital waterway.    

Between July 2021 and June 2022 - Egypt's fiscal year - some 1.32 billion tons of cargo were shipped through the canal, Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chief Osama Rabie said.    

Turkey needs to build Kanal Istanbul as an alternative seaway as the Bosphorus Strait's capacity will not be able to handle the increasing vessel traffic in years to come, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu has said.

The Kanal Istanbul project has been "debated entirely" but is now at the stage of implementation, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Oct. 8.

Speaking at the 12th Transportation and Communication Week at Atatürk Airport in Istanbul, Erdoğan said the Bosphorus's inability to carry the increasing freight traffic led them to seek alternatives.