The Suez Canal cuts through northeastern Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. It runs roughly north to south for 193 kilometers (about 120 miles), with its northern entrance at the city of Port Said on the Mediterranean coast and its southern entrance near the city of Suez on the Gulf of Suez, at approximately 29°56′ N latitude, 32°34′ E longitude. The canal sits entirely on Egyptian soil and is owned and operated by the Egyptian government through the Suez Canal Authority.
Geography of the Canal Route
The Suez Canal crosses the Isthmus of Suez, a narrow strip of land that is the only thing separating Africa from Asia. Without the canal, this land bridge would force every ship traveling between Europe and Asia to sail all the way around the southern tip of Africa, a detour of thousands of nautical miles.
The canal itself passes through several bodies of water along its route. Moving south from Port Said, it runs through Lake Manzala, Lake Timsah, and the Great Bitter Lakes before reaching the Gulf of Suez. These natural lakes and depressions made construction more feasible and still serve as widened stretches of the waterway today. The surrounding terrain is flat, low-lying desert, which is why the canal operates at sea level with no locks, unlike the Panama Canal. Ships simply sail straight through.
Why This Location Matters for Global Trade
The canal’s position on the boundary between Africa and Asia makes it the shortest shipping route between ports in Europe, the eastern Mediterranean, and the Persian Gulf. The distance savings are dramatic. A tanker traveling from Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia to Rotterdam in the Netherlands saves 4,733 nautical miles by using the canal instead of going around the Cape of Good Hope, a 42% shorter voyage. For routes closer to the Mediterranean, the savings are even steeper: a ship from Jeddah to Piraeus, Greece, cuts 9,891 nautical miles, or 88% of the alternative route.
Those shorter distances translate directly into less fuel burned, fewer days at sea, and lower operating costs. In 2023, roughly 8.6 million barrels of oil per day moved through the Suez Canal and the nearby SUMED pipeline combined, representing about 11% of all seaborne-traded oil globally. Liquefied natural gas shipments through the area accounted for around 8% of worldwide LNG trade.
Canal Dimensions and Ship Limits
The canal’s current navigable depth maxes out at 24 meters (about 79 feet), and it is 205 to 225 meters wide at a depth of 11 meters. These dimensions define a ship size class known as “Suezmax,” the largest vessels that can transit the canal. Suezmax ships have a maximum draft of 66 feet and a width of 164 feet, with oil tankers of this class carrying roughly 900,000 to 1.3 million barrels of crude.
Ships travel through the canal at regulated speeds of about 16 kilometers per hour for ordinary vessels and 14 kilometers per hour for tankers. Two convoys run daily: one heading south starting at 3:30 a.m. and one heading north at 4:00 a.m. Each ship is guided by a pilot from the Suez Canal Authority for the entire transit.
The 2015 Expansion
Egypt completed a major expansion project in 2015, often called the “New Suez Canal.” The project added a 35-kilometer parallel channel alongside the existing canal and deepened 37 kilometers of existing bypasses near the Great Bitter Lakes and Ballah, bringing the total project length to 72 kilometers. Both channels were dredged to a depth of 24 meters, and the new parallel section was built 317 meters wide at the water surface.
The parallel channel allows ships to travel in both directions simultaneously along a much longer stretch of the canal than before. This cut southbound transit time from 18 hours to 11 hours and reduced waiting times from 8 to 11 hours down to a maximum of about 3 hours. The entire expansion was completed in just 12 months.
Egyptian Ownership
The canal has been under full Egyptian control since 1956, when President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized it. Before that, it was operated by the Universal Company of the Suez Maritime Canal, a joint-stock company that had managed the waterway since its opening in 1869. Nasser’s nationalization transferred all assets, rights, and obligations to the Egyptian state, a move that triggered an international crisis but ultimately established Egypt’s sovereignty over the canal. Today the Suez Canal Authority manages all operations, maintenance, and toll collection, generating billions of dollars in annual revenue for Egypt.