Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - The recent blockage of the Suez Canal showed the importance of promoting alternative transport corridors and raised questions in the expert community about the risks of the world’s overdependence on this route. The economic damage from the blockade proved the fragility of the global transport architecture.

The incident forced some ships to use an alternative route around the southern tip of Africa, significantly increasing transport costs and time.

The Suez Canal, an artificially created waterway, is one of the most actively used sea routes in the world, through which more than 12% of world trade (1.25 billion tons of cargo) passes. This canal is also responsible for transporting 7% of the world’s oil and 30% of the world’s daily container traffic.

According to "Lloyd’s List" (one of the oldest shipping publications in the world, founded in 1734 in London), the estimated daily value of cargo passing through the canal is US$9.7 billion, of which US$5.1 billion goes west and US$4.6 billion - to the east. According to experts, each hour of delay cost world trade about US$400 million in revenue.

In the light of these events, the expert community is considering alternative routes. In particular, the Northern Sea Route (NSR), the North-South International Transport Corridor (Mumbai (India) - Bandar-Abas (Iran) - Baku (Azerbaijan) - Astrakhan (RF) - Moscow (RF) - St. Petersburg (RF), the Trans-Siberian Railway (from Vladivostok to Moscow) and the Medium Corridor initiative (Turkmenistan - Uzbekistan - Kyrgyzstan - China).

Noting the pros and cons of the routes under consideration, the opinion of experts tends to the relevance of transporting goods between Asia and Europe through Central Asia ("Middle Corridor").

The corridor through Central Asia has several advantages over other transport routes under consideration.

The Northern Sea Route (NSR) is a sea route between Europe and Asia through the Arctic routes of the Russian Federation. Using the NSR can save time and money compared to flights via the Suez Canal. the route is about 40-60% shorter (7,000-13,000 km).

But despite this, a big drawback is that for a significant part of the year it is covered with ice (November - June), and for the transportation of goods along this route, ships of a special nature and capabilities are required, which are available only to Moscow. Thus, the alternative to the NSR in relation to the Suez Canal can only be of a seasonal nature.

International transport corridor "North-South" (7,200 km), a multimodal route for the transportation of passengers and goods, from St. Petersburg (RF) to the port of Mumbai (India).

The main advantage of the North-South ITC over other routes (in particular, over the sea route through the Suez Canal) is considered to be a twofold or more reduction in the distance of transportation, as well as a decrease in the cost of container transportation.

Despite its advantages, this route cannot be a direct competitor to the Suez Canal, since it serves to connect the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf with Northern Europe, and not to connect East and Southeast Asia, like the Suez Canal.

According to experts, it can compete with the Suez Canal only if it is integrated into the Middle Corridor.

The Trans-Siberian Railway is a railway across Eurasia connecting Moscow with the largest East Siberian and Far Eastern industrial cities of Russia. The length of the highway is 9288.2 km.

Due to its special geographic location, the territory of Russia is a kind of "land bridge" for freight flows between the main macroeconomic poles - the EU and APR countries.

According to estimates, this highway can successfully compete with sea transit, shorten the route between Europe and North-East Asia by 8 thousand km, save 8-10 days of transit time compared to sea transportation.

But when compared with the Trans-Siberian Railway, it is emphasized that the "Middle Corridor" is shorter by 2 thousand km and passes through areas with a more favorable climate.

An additional plus is also noted that compared to traditional sea routes, this route can deliver goods from China to Europe three times faster, in just 11-15 days.

The Middle Corridor initiative is also beneficial for Afghanistan and Tajikistan. These countries through the "Lapis lazuli transport corridor" (Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey) can interact with the "Middle Corridor" and transport their goods in all Asian directions, as well as to Europe.

Thus, according to experts, the advantages of the Middle Corridor and the disadvantages of other alternatives show the importance of this route and make it the best alternative to the Suez Canal.

Azamat Tokhirov

Leading Researcher,

International Institute of Central Asia