Imagine that you're taking a trip from Asia to Europe by ship. Which way is the fastest? Before 1869, people didn't have too many choices. They had to take a long trip around the southern part of Africa. However, the opening of the Suez Canal （苏伊士运河）that year provided a shortcut (捷径). The canal is one of the most important parts of the global shipping network that all of us depend on.
The Suez Canal is 193.3 km long. It first opened in 1869. It took 10 years to build. Egypt manages the canal. In 2015, it finished an expansion (扩建)of the canal, making it able to hold the world's largest ships.
The ship Ever Given got caught in the canal on March 23 due to high winds, according to the ship's technical manager Bernhard Schulte Ship management. It was stuck there for six days until finally being freed on March 29. But during that short time, the ship blocked the canal, leaving at least 422 ships unable to pass. This accident showed us just how big of a role the canal plays in global trade.
The canal is a man-made waterway that connects the Mediterranean（地中海） to the Red Sea. It is a lifeline for the world's sea trade, as it cuts the travel distance from South Asia to Europe by about 7,000 km. Around 10 percent of the world's trade travels through the canal. Nearly $10 billion (about 65 billion yuan) worth of goods go through it every day, according to AP.
The canal is quite important for carrying oil. About 7 percent of the world's oil goes through the canal. The canal also ships goods like furniture (家具), clothing, and auto parts (汽车零件). Even daily goods like toilet paper and coffee pass through the canal. If the canal stops working for a long time, shortages of goods can make prices rise.
The accident showed how important and fragile (脆弱的)the canal is.
