GEOG 80 – Transport Geography Professor: Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue Topic 5 – International and Regional Transportation A.The Strategic Space of International

GEOG 80 – Transport GeographyProfessor: Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue

Topic 5 – International and Regional Transportation

A. The Strategic Space of International Transportation

B. Transportation, Globalization and International Trade

C. Commodity Chains and Freight TransportD. Logistics

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

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).


■ 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.

Maritime Routes and Strategic Locations

SuezHormuz

PanamaMalacca

Bosporus

Magellan

Good Hope

Gibraltar

Bab el-Mandab

Capacity of Key Strategic Passages

Standard Capacity Depth TEU

Panamax 65,000 dwt 12 meters (40 feet)

4,000

Suez-max 120,000 dwt 16 meters (58 feet)

12,000

Malacca-max 300,000 dwt 21 meters (68 feet)

18,000

Shipping Lanes and Strategic Passages in Pacific Asia

Hormuz

Malacca

Sunda

Lombok

Makassar

China

India

Tsugaru

Sout

h C

hina

Sea

Pacific Ocean

Indian Ocean

Japan

Indonesia


■ 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.


■ 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.


■ 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.

The Northern East-West Freight Corridor

Russia

ChinaCanada

Un

ite

d S

tate

s

Kazakhstan

Mongolia

Vostochny

Lianyungang

Archangel'sk

Brest

Druzhba

Zabaykalsk

Oulu

Lokot

Perm'

Astana

Harbin

Urumqi

Beijing

Irkutsk

Lanzhou

VologdaVainikkala

Ulaanbaatar

Novosibi rsk

Yekaterinburg Presnogorkovka

Halifax

Moscow

St. Petersburg

Haparanda/Tornio

BostonNew York

Rotterdam

Transatlantic Segment

Rail Main Trunk (Broad Gauge)

Rail Main Trunk (Standard Gauge)

Rail Connector (Broad Gauge)

Rail Connector (Standard Gauge)

Russia

Sweden

FinlandNarvik

Haparanda/Tornio

OuluVainikkala St. Petersburg

Port

Gauge Change

Rail Terminal

The Northern East-West Freight Corridor

Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Dept. of Economics & Geography, Hofstra University, November 2005

Scandinavian Segment

Azimutha l Equidistant Polar Projection

Halifax 8 Days Narvik

1 Day

Tornio0.6 Day

0.3 Day

Vainikkala1 Day

1 Day

Vostochny8.2 Days5,600 km 600 km 970 km 9,870 km

Freight Transport Sequence

Source: International Union of Railways (2004) The Northern East West (N.E.W.) Freight Corridor, Transportutvikling AS.


■ 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.

Shipping Lanes and Strategic Passages in the Middle East

IranIraq

Saudi ArabiaEgypt

Turkey

Indian Ocean

Hormuz

Bosporus

Bab el-Mandab

Suez

Oman

Yemen

Red Sea

PG

PG: Persian Gulf

15.5

3.3

3.8

3.0

1.0Oil transited (millions ofbarrels per day)Black Sea

2002-2003 figures

Mediterranean

Sudan

Oil Transited at Major Strategic Locations, 2004

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Strait of Hormuz

Strait of Malacca

Bab el-Mandab

Suez Canal & Sumed Pipeline

Bosporus

Panama Canal & Pileline

Million barrels per day

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.

Gatun Locks

Miraflores LocksPedro Miguel Locks

8 0 84 Miles

The Panama Canal

Pacific Ocean

Atlantic OceanAtlantic Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Panama

Gatun Lake

Panama City

Colon

Gaillard Cut

Gatun Dam

Balboa

Cristobal

Panama Canal Railway

Panama Canal: Gatun Locks

Panama Canal: Gaillard Cut

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

Geographical Impact of the Suez Canal, 1869

16,000 KM

10,000 KM

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.

Suez Canal, end of 19th Century

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.

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.

Suez Canal, 1990s

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.

0 200 400 600 800100Miles

The Strait of Malacca

IndonesiaIndonesiaM

alaysia

Malaysia

Thailand

Indian Ocean

Strait of Malacca

Gulf of ThailandIndian Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Singapore

Strait of Sunda

South China Sea


■ 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.


■ 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.

The Port of Singapore

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.


■ 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.

40 0 4020 Miles

The Dardanelles and Bosporus Passages

Black Sea

MediterraneanOcean

Marmara Denizi

Dardanelles

Bosporus

Istanbul

Turkey

Turkey

Greece

Bosporus, Turkey


■ 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.

Documents

GEOG 80 – Transport Geography Professor: Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue Topic 5 – International and Regional Transportation A.The Strategic Space of International