Carr (FFG 52) - Naval Cruise Book

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Suez Canal The Suez Canal, located at the crossroads of Asia, Europe, and Africa, is one of the world ' s most important waterways. It is a sea-level artifi- cial waterway that was opened in 1869. It crosses the narrow isthmus of Suez joining Africa and Asia and permits vessels to travel between the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea and the In- dian Ocean by using water from the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea. The canal is owned and operated by Egypt and has a total length of 105 miles. It handles approx. 60 vessels a day at an average cost of approx. $250,000 one way. Transit time averages about 15 hours. The canal is strategically and economically important because it shortens the distance be- tween Europe and the Far East. The U.S.S.R. uses the canal to move its Navy from the Medi- terranean to the Indian Ocean. In 1983, the canal carried 283,294,000 tons of freight, of which pe- troleum accounted for 38%. One of the more interesting stories of the history of the idea for the canal is that in 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered a survey made in 1799 for a direct canal from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, but the project was aban- doned when the French survey team mistakenly concluded that a sea-level canal was impossible. The actual construction of the canal was com- pleted in 1869 at more than double the originally estimated cost of $41,860,000. During the Six Day War (1967) between Egypt and Israel, ships were sunk by Egypt to block the waterway and it remained closed for 8 years. Israeli shipping rights were not restored until the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty on March 26, 1979. In 1980, 21,603 vessels passed through the canal. That same year, the first of several tunnels under the canal was opened to traffic.

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Abu Dhabi, Djibouti, and Bahrain Population 50,000 (1973 Est) Abu Dhabi is the capital of the Abu Dhabi Sheikhdom on the southeast shore of the Persian Gulf and the capital of the United Arab Emi- rates. Its climate is arid, with an average annual rainfall of 2.4 in. Income from oil production has transformed it from a fishing village in the 1960 ' s into a high rise city with an international airport and an artificial harbor. Djibouti Population 323,000 (1981 Est) Djibouti is a tiny republic situated just north of the Horn of Africa, on the Strait of Bab El- Mandeb, the gateway to the Red Sea. Nearly 90% of Djibouti is volcanic desert. It is one of the hottest places on earth with an aver- age annual temperature of 90 degrees. The aver- age annual rainfall is less than 5 in. and vegeta- tion is sparse. Salt extracted from the sea is Dji- bouti ' s major resource. Bahrain is an independent Emirate com- prising a group of low lying islands located in the Persian Gulf. The major island, Bahrain, is about 30 miles long and 10 miles wide. About 40% of the country ' s population live in Manama, the capital city. The climate is hot in Bahrain and rainfall is sparse. Summer temperate averages 93 degrees and winter temperature averages 63 de- grees. The majority of the population is Arab and nearly 70% are native-born. Arabic is the official language though Persian and English are under- stood widely. Islam, practiced by 95% of the pop- ulation, is the official religion. Bahrain continues to be a central oil-pro- ducing center but reserves are small and will probably be depleted by the end of the 20th cen- tury. Major efforts are being made in anticipa- tion of this. A large oil refinery was built to pro- cess oil piped from Saudi Arabia along with plants making steel pellets. It has also become a major regional banking and communications center. Dates and Alfalfa are grown extensively and also rice, citrus fruits and vegetables. Food must be imported. Bahrain gained independence from British protection in 1971 and elected not to join the United Arab Emirates. A constitution was adopt- ed in 1973 but the National Assembly was dis- solved in 1975 and the Emir has since ruled by degree. After the Iranian Revolution (1979) Iran revived a long standing claim to Bahrain. ti m- H ' Mf aip ■» t; ' ,. RR