The Mediterranean as a Hub of Maritime Trade and the Role of the New Suez Canal

Freight is a key variable of the economy, has a crucial role in the spatial relationships between different and distant markets and, to that extent, represents the physical medium by which exchanges of goods are realized, constituting the backbone of world trade. Throughout history, man has always sought methods by which speed up and simplify the connections between the many points of the globe both through the use of increasingly efficient technologies, and through the construction of new ways of access frequently changing physical morphology of territories.

This process is still evolving, and in fact in 2015 there has been a new change that has affected one of the major hubs of the world: the Suez Canal. The Canal doubling is a strong signal of change as not only induces to reflect on current developments within the mode of transport, in particular the increasing race to the naval gigantism, but it also implies a newfound centrality of the Mediterranean Sea which, thanks to the new infrastructure, will increase its transit flows. This involves, on the one hand, an increase in business opportunities, and on the other, the formation of new hierarchies between the port systems of the countries that surround it.

The underlying theme of the essay revolves around the recent trend of the modern shipping, and on variables that influenced the decision to double the channel. It will analyze the “New Suez Canal“ and its real capacity to attract more transit flows both in quantitative terms and in relation to the types of ships that can cross it and in relation to the origin of these flows. Finally the focus will be on port and logistics systems of the Mediterranean countries in order to understand which of them is more ready to seize any new opportunities involved.