Maritime Canals

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Canals and Waterways

Geographical position and economic importance of
inland waterways in the shipping industry
Recently changed its importance due to the introduction
of larger capacity vessels with deeper draught, such as
the mammoth oil tankers and container ships canals
must keep pace with the new development
physical ability to accept modern tonnage currently or
potentially available such as in the Suez and Panama
Canals
The growth in the Asian trade, especially China, has
stimulated continuous modernization of the Suez and
Panama canals to attract the latest generation of larger
Panamax and Suezmax tonnage
The key to ship management is flexibility and the
presence of major waterways voyage route options.

European inland waterways

Europe region is focused particularly on the
ports of Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp and
Dunkerque and their connecting inland
waterway systems which penetrate southwards
30% of the ports transshipment cargoes
conveyed on the inland waterway network
Mainly in bulk commodities. It is increasing
volume of containerized goods and vehicular
merchandise as well.
Rotterdam is a key hub in the barge network
and is served by 25,000 km of navigable inland
waterways.

European inland container terminals in 2003

European inland waterways

Rotterdam is served by over 30 inland waterway
operators, running over 120 scheduled container
services to 70 industrial centres spread over the
entire heartland of Europe.
The traffic volume:
Between northern Germany and Rotterdam is about 25
million tons of cargo travel by barge annually
90 million tons over the northsouth axis (Netherlands
including Rotterdam, Belgium including Antwerp, and
France)
8 million tons between the Netherlands and France
17 million tons on the Mosel and Saar.

The main inland waterway in Europe is the

RhineMainDanube (RMD) canal.

RMD Canal
The RhineMainDanube (RMD) canal is opened in
1992. Its length is 3,500 km between the North Sea and
the Black Sea and serves nine East and West European
countries
RMD route runs through Holland and Germany to
Mainz and up the Mainz to Bamberg, the northern canal
entrance
On the other side of the Franconian Jura, the canal joins
the Danube at Kelheim.
The river flows through Austria, clips the former
Czechoslovakia and continues south through Hungary
and the former Yugoslavia.
In east, the canal forms the border between Bulgaria and
Romania before turning north to touch on Romania, the
southern tip of the CIS and finally empties itself into the
Black Sea.

Main inland waterway (RMD) in Europe

Main inland waterways in Germany. RMD Canal is #4 on the map

A view of RMD Canal (see the arrow) near

Nuremberg

The Kiel Canal (Germany)

The Kiel Canal connects the river Elbe at
Brunsbttel with Kiel Fjord at Kiel-Holtenau.
Local name: Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, NOK
Total distance of about 100 km.
Open 24 hours per day.
Passage time of 6.5-8.5 hours, depending on
ship size and traffic density.
Average saving of about 250 nautical miles
compared with the Skaw route.

The Kiel Canal

Vessels of up to 9.5 m draught are permitted,
with a length of 160 m and beam of 27 m or 193
m length and 20 m beam.
Pilotage is compulsory for vessels over 2,500
GRT or beam in excess of 15 meters.
Annual traffic growth is continuous. In 2003:
40,000 vessels or 111 million GRT. In 2007:
43,000 vessels.
Average traffic of 105 vessels per day.

The Kiel Canal

The position of the Kiel canal

The Kiel Canal

Views of the Kiel canal

The Suez Canal (Egypt)

The Suez Canal links the Mediterranean Sea to the
Red Sea.
Opened for international navigation in 1869.
Overall the canals length is 195 km from Port Said to
Ismailia to Port Tewfik.
Maximum permitted draught of ships is 62 ft
Suezmax.
Maximum permitted tonnage is 210,000 dwt.
Suez canal is the longest canal without locks in the
world and is navigable both day and night.
The canal is run in a convoy system to transit at a
fixed speed and a fixed separation distance between
two passing ships.

Suez Canal
Pilotage is compulsory and speed limits vary
from 13 kmh to 14 kmh according to the
category and tonnage of ships.
A ship needs 12-15 hours to transit the canal
76 ships per day to pass through the canal
From 195 km, 78 km is passing loops (located at
Port Said bypass, Ballah bypass, Timsah bypass
and finally Deversoir bypass and the Bitter
Lanes area).
The canal uses electronic vessel traffic
management system using a radar network to
ensure safety of transit for vessels.

Suez Canal

Map of Suez canal

Suez Canal

Old map and old picture of Suez canal

Suez Canal

Current map and pictures of Suez canal

Suez Canal

Saving in distance, Suez Canal and Cape

The Panama Canal (Panama)

Managed by the Panama Canal Authority
(PCA), an autonomous entity of the government
of Panama.
The canal links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Length: 48-mile (77.1km)

It has 3 locks at each end to lift ships up to Lake
Gatun (85 feet or 26 m above sea-level).
Work on the canal, which began in 1881 by
French, was completed in 1914 by The US.
Transferred from the United States stewardship
on 31 December 1999 in accordance with the
Panama Canal Treaty of 1977.

The Panama Canal

The canal modernization program started in
2000: the widening of the Gaillard Cut, the
narrowest stretch of the canal and beyond,
allowing two-way Panamax traffic for the first
time.
It uses enhanced vessel traffic management
system (EVMS).
Sailing from the east coast of the United States to
Japan via the Panama Canal saves about 3,000
miles
1,000 ships when it opened in 1914 (14,702
vessels in 2008).
Two post-panamax locks: Gatun & Miraflores

Map of the Panama Canal

Panama Canal and Old Lock System

Construction of the 3rd set of locks

New Lock System at Panama Canal

Features of the New Lock System