Who knows stuff about the Suez canal & crisis?

[teuchter]

The internet tells me the Suez Canal re-opened in April or May 1957.

But would shipping have continued to be disrupted for some time after?

Specifically, is it plausible that ships sailing from East Africa to the UK (directly or via elsewhere) around July 1957 would still be avoiding the Suez canal, instead taking a longer route around the Cape of Good Hope?

 

[Riklet]

Almost certain I would have thought. Especially a British flagged ship.

Ships did a lot of long voyages still back then.

 

[platinumsage]

Seems British traffic was getting back to normal by June. This from 26 July (AP):

 

[teuchter]

Thanks very much.

Was just getting ready to come back to this and claim that starting threads with serious questions generated little response therefore all you lot deserve is time-wasting threads, although of course I believe that regardless.

 

[teuchter]

Almost certain I would have thought. Especially a British flagged ship.

Ships did a lot of long voyages still back then.

For political reasons?

 

[bmd]

I do not know anything about it really. So, not me.

 

[maomao]

A man, a plan, a canal: suez.

 

[platinumsage]

The Egyptian authorities opened it to commercial shipping on 9th April, although it appears British ships could not use it until an announcement to that effect by Macmillan on 13th May (following the end of a boycott by the Suez Canal Users Association), whereupon 20 British tankers currently at sea immediately rerouted to use the canal.

Passenger shipping took longer. For example the fortnightly P&O Royal Mail steamers from Sydney to England were timetabled via the Cape up to and including the Himalaya departing 5th July (per timetable published a week prior).

 

[Yossarian]

A man, a plan, a canal: suez.

On Suez: Zeus, no!

 

[Sasaferrato]

A more interesting question would be:

Without the Suez and Panama canals, how much further on would we be in the climate change journey?