Topic 5 – International and Regional Transportation

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Topic 5 International and Regional
Transportation

• The Strategic Space of International
  Transportation
• Transportation, Globalization and International
  Trade
• Commodity Chains and Freight Transport
• Logistics

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A The Strategic Space of International
Transportation

• 1. The Geostrategy of International
  Transportation
• 2. The Panama Canal
• 3. The Suez Canal
• 4. The Strait of Malacca
• 5. Other Important Passages

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1. The Geostrategy of International Transportation

• Features of international transportation
• Involves geopolitical considerations.
• Passages subject to conflicts aimed to assure a
  control of a strategic location.
• International transport infrastructures
• Ports, airports and canals.
• Also subject to geopolitical considerations.
• Access to strategic resources or key markets.
• Acknowledged early in the history of
  international transportation
• "Whosoever commands the sea commands trade
  whosoever commands the trade of the world
  commands the riches of the world, and
  consequently the world itself". Sir Walter
  Raleigh (c1610).

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1. The Geostrategy of International Transportation

• Maritime transportation
• Dominant purveyor of international freight
  distribution and evolves over a global maritime
  space.
• Constrained system
• Profile of continental masses.
• Forced to pass through specific locations
  corresponding to passages, capes and straits.
• Freight flows
• Commodities.
• Parts.
• Finished goods.

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Maritime Routes and Strategic Locations
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Capacity of Key Strategic Passages
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Shipping Lanes and Strategic Passages in Pacific
Asia
Tsugaru
Japan
Hormuz
Pacific Ocean
China
India
South China Sea
Malacca
Makassar
Indonesia
Indian Ocean
Sunda
Lombok
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1. The Geostrategy of International Transportation

• Conquest
• Initially a mean to acquire and conquer oceans,
  territories and resources
• Maritime technology
• European powers first to improve significantly
  maritime technology.
• Able to establish maritime trading roads and
  colonies all over the world.
• Railroad technology
• Mean to achieve territorial conquest.
• North America for nation building.
• Africa for colonialism.

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1. The Geostrategy of International Transportation

• Competition
• Mean to compete on the global economy.
• Prevalent force in shaping modern transportation
  systems.
• Right to carry national passengers and freight
• Often reserved for national transport companies.
• Cabotage laws.
• Air freedoms.
• Transport related activities also compete
• Shipbuilding, trade and insurance.
• Usage of flags of convenience.

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1. The Geostrategy of International Transportation

• Cooperation
• Common interests favor agreements.
• Involving access to infrastructures or setting
  standards
• 1792 most countries along the Rhine agreed to
  free navigation.
• 1871 Canada and the United States agreed to the
  development of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1954.
• International trade within Europe was enhanced by
  the adoption of a standard over rail gauges
  (1.435 meters).
• International air transportation is subject to
  regulations over security and prices.
• Emergence of economic blocs
• European Union and the North American Free Trade
  Agreement.
• Leans on common rules about transport standards
  and prices.

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The Northern East-West Freight Corridor
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1. The Geostrategy of International Transportation

• Control
• The control of strategic places.
• Vulnerability
• Developed countries are becoming more vulnerable
  to supplies of freight and raw materials.
• Some developing countries, like China, are
  becoming dependent on supplies of food and
  energy.
• United States
• Became more dependent on external supplies of
  oil.
• Foreign policy shifted at keeping an eye on
  strategic locations in oil trade, dominantly in
  the Middle East.

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Shipping Lanes and Strategic Passages in the
Middle East
Oil transited (millions of barrels per day)
1.0
Black Sea
2002-2003 figures
3.0
Bosporus
Turkey
Mediterranean
Iran
Iraq
3.8
Hormuz
Suez
PG
15.5
Egypt
Saudi Arabia
Oman
Red Sea
Sudan
Yemen
3.3
Indian Ocean
Bab el-Mandab
PG Persian Gulf
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Oil Transited at Major Strategic Locations, 2004
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2. The Panama Canal

• Context
• Joins the Atlantic and Pacific oceans at the
  Isthmus of Panama
• From Cristobal on Limon Bay, an arm of the
  Caribbean Sea, to Balboa, on the Gulf of Panama.
• Ranks as one of the greatest engineering works of
  all time.
• Composed of three main elements
• Gatun Locks (Atlantic side).
• Gaillard Cut (continental divide)
• Miraflores Locks (Pacific side).
• Dimensions
• Slightly more than 64 km long.
• Depth of 12.5 m (40 feet) and width of 91.5 m.
• Prevents a 21,000 km detour around South America.
• Handles about 12 of the American international
  seaborne trade.

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The Panama Canal
Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
Colon
Cristobal
Pacific Ocean
Gatun Dam
Panama Canal Railway
Gatun Lake
Gaillard Cut
Panama City
Panama
Balboa
Pacific Ocean
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Panama Canal Gatun Locks
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Panama Canal Gaillard Cut
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2. The Panama Canal

• Early history
• Interests
• Began with explorers of Central America the early
  16th century
• In 1534, the Spanish surveyed the Panama region.
• Was judged impossible.
• American involvement
• Gold was discovered in California in 1848.
• Panama Canal railway constructed in 1855.
• French attempts
• French Geographical Society of Paris signed a
  treaty with Columbia (then the owner of the
  Province of Panama 1878).
• French Canal Company undertook construction
  (1879-1899).
• Project failure financial problems, tropical
  diseases (20,000 workers killed) and the
  technical difficulties of trying to build a sea
  level canal.

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2. The Panama Canal

• American intervention
• Panama revolt from Columbia (1903), supported by
  the United States.
• Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty
• United States guaranteed the independence of
  Panama.
• Perpetual lease on a 16-km (10 miles) strip with
  complete sovereignty.
• Compensation of 10 million and an
  inflation-indexed annual compensation.
• Construction
• Constructed between 1904 and 1916.
• Cost of 387 million (compensation to Panama and
  40 million to purchase the previous project from
  the French Canal Company).
• Under the authority of the U.S. Army Corps of
  Engineers.
• 70,000 people worked on the project and about
  5,600 died in the process.
• Sanitation of the entire canal area (mosquitoes
  yellow fever and malaria).

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2. The Panama Canal

• Operations and traffic
• Under the jurisdiction of the Panama Canal
  Authority (1999)
• Collect tolls on all ships crossing the canal.
• A loaded ship pays about 2.57 per net ton.
• The average toll is about 45,000.
• Traffic
• 13,000 ships transit the canal every year, (35
  ships per day).
• Grains (43 of the traffic transited).
• Containers (11) and petroleum products (10).
• Loss of some of its strategic importance due to
  super-tankers.
• Panamax standard
• Equals to 65,000 tons and a draft of 12 meters.

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3. The Suez Canal

• Context
• Running across the Isthmus of Suez in
  northeastern Egypt.
• Connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of
  Suez, an arm of the Red Sea.
• Dimensions
• Artificial waterway of about 163 km in length.
• Width of 60 meters.
• No locks, because the Mediterranean Sea and the
  Gulf of Suez have roughly the same water level.
• Ships of 16 meters (58 feet) draft can make the
  transit.
• Capacity
• 150,000 deadweight tons fully loaded.
• 25,000 ships per year, but handles about 14,000.

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3. The Suez Canal

• History
• First canal excavated about the 13th century BC.
• Expand trade between the Mediterranean and the
  Middle East.
• Restoration efforts were abandoned in the 8th
  century AD.
• Colonial expansion of Europe in Asia revitalized
  the idea of a canal.
• French construction
• French and Egyptians interests (1859-69).
• Cost of about 100 million dollars.
• Brought forward a new era of European influence
  in Pacific Asia.
• Saving 6,500 km from the circum African route.

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Geographical Impact of the Suez Canal, 1869
EUROPE
EAST ASIA
AFRICA
Indian Ocean
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3. The Suez Canal

• British purchase
• In 1874, Britain bought the shares of the Suez
  Canal Company and became its sole owner.
• According to a 1888 agreement, the canal was open
  to the vessels of all nations in peace or in war.
• Britain claimed the need to control the area to
  maintain maritime power and colonial interests.
• In 1936, Great Britain acquired the right to
  maintain defense forces in the Suez Canal.
• Strategic importance during World War II to
  maintain Asia-Europe supply routes for the Allies.

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Suez Canal, end of 19th Century
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3. The Suez Canal

• Nationalization
• Nationalized by Egypt (1956).
• Israeli ships were not permitted to cross the
  canal.
• Threat was also extended to France and Britain
• Refused to help finance the Aswan High Dam
  project.
• Israel, France and Britain invaded Egypt (1956).
• Egypt sank ships in the canal closing it between
  1956 and 1957.
• Israel Arab Wars
• Tensions between Israel and Arab nations in the
  1960s
• Six Days War Israel and Egypt (1967) Invasion of
  Sinai by Israel.
• Canal Closed (Between 1967 and 1975)
• Significantly destabilized international
  transportation.
• Re-opened in 1975 as Egypt agreed to let Israel
  use the canal.

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3. The Suez Canal

• Modern canal
• Widened between 1976 and 1980 to accommodate
  super-tankers of 150,000 dwt.
• Support the oil trade between Europe and the
  Middle East.
• Ultra large crude carriers (ULCCs) cannot pass
  through the Canal.
• Important with economic growth taking place along
  Pacific Asia.
• Growing movements of containers along the Suez
  Canal.

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Suez Canal, 1990s
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4. The Strait of Malacca

• Context
• One of most important strategic passage of the
  World
• Supports the bulk of the maritime trade between
  Europe and Pacific Asia.
• Account for 30 of the world trade.
• Main passage between the Pacific and the Indian
  oceans
• Accounts for 50,000 ships per year (600 per day).
• Second passage The Strait of Sunda (Indonesia).
• Outlet to the South China Sea.
• Dimensions
• 800 km in length and between 50 and 320 km in
  width (2.5 km at its narrowest point).
• Minimal depth of 70 feet.
• Can accommodate ships of about 120,000 tons.

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The Strait of Malacca
Pacific Ocean
Gulf of Thailand
Thailand
Indian Ocean
Strait of Malacca
South China Sea
Malaysia
Malaysia
Singapore
Indonesia
Indian Ocean
Indonesia
Strait of Sunda
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4. The Strait of Malacca

• History
• Important passage point between the Chinese and
  the Indian worlds.
• Controlled at different points in time by
  Javanese and Malaysian kingdoms.
• Arab control
• From the 14th century, the region came under the
  control of Arab merchants.
• Established several fortified trading towns.
• Malacca most important commercial center in
  Southeast Asia.
• European control
• Shifted as the era of European expansion began in
  the 16th century.
• In 1511, Malacca fell to the Portuguese.
• Marked the beginning of European control over the
  Strait.

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4. The Strait of Malacca

• English control
• In 1867, England took control of the passage.
• Singapore as a main harbor.
• Other important centers such as Malacca and
  Penang, forming the Strait Settlements.
• Control lasted until the Second World War and the
  independence of Malaysia in 1957.
• Growing importance of the strait with the growth
  of trade.
• Singapore
• Located at the southern end of the Strait of
  Malacca.
• One of the most important port in the world.
• Major oil refining center.

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The Port of Singapore
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5. Other Important Passages

• The Strait of Hormuz
• Strategic link between the oil fields of the
  Persian gulf and the gulf of Oman (Indian Ocean).
• Between 48 and 80 km of width (6 km wide
  navigation channel).
• The most important strategic passage in the world
  (oil).
• Contested by Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
• Gibraltar
• Peninsula between the Atlantic and the
  Mediterranean oceans.
• Obligatory passage point between these two
  oceans.
• 64 km long and varies in width from 13 to 39 km.
• Under British control since its conquest from
  Spain (1704).
• Second World War Gibraltar blocked the access to
  the Atlantic to the Italian and German fleets of
  the Mediterranean.

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5. Other Important Passages

• Bosporus
• Passage of 30 km in length and of only 1 km in
  width at its narrowest point.
• Only link between the Black Sea and the
  Mediterranean Ocean.
• Passage of growing strategic importance, notably
  after the fall of the Soviet Union.
• The Caspian Sea has vast oil reserves.
• A large amount must transit trough the Black Sea
  and Bosporus to reach external markets.
• About 50,000 ships a year, including 5,500
  tankers, are transiting through the passage each
  year.

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The Dardanelles and Bosporus Passages
Greece
Black Sea
Turkey
Bosporus
Istanbul
Marmara Denizi
Dardanelles
Turkey
Mediterranean Ocean
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Bosporus, Turkey
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5. Other Important Passages

• The Strait of Magellan
• Discovered in 1520 by the Portuguese explorer
  Ferdinand Magellan.
• Separates South America to Tierra del Fuego.
• 530 km long and 4 to 24 km of width.
• Held secret during more than one century to
  assure the supremacy of Portugal and Spain for
  the Asian trade of spices and silk.
• The Panama Canal (1916) and the North American
  transcontinental bridge in the 1980s undermined
  its strategic importance.
• The Cape Good Hope
• Extreme tip of Africa discovered by the
  Portuguese (end of the 15th century).
• Separates the Atlantic and Indian oceans.
• Vasco de Gamma (1497) and was the first European
  to reach India by sea.
• Lost some of its strategic importance with the
  widening of Suez canal.