Suez Canal Closure of 1967 to 1975
Suez Canal Closure of 1967 to 1975 began on June 5, 1967, when Egypt blocked the canal at the start of the Six-Day War, trapping 15 ships known as the Yellow Fleet until the canal reopened on June 5, 1975.
What happened and why it matters
The eight-year closure forced Europe to Asia trade around the Cape of Good Hope and sped up the shift to very large ships that could make the long route pay. Voyages between Europe and the Persian Gulf or Asia grew by thousands of miles, and oil companies ordered supertankers too big to use the canal anyway. The crews stranded in the Great Bitter Lake became a symbol of the disruption. The episode is a precedent for later chokepoint shocks, including the 2021 Ever Given blockage and the Red Sea diversions from late 2023, when importers again faced longer transit times, higher freight rates and a need for more safety stock.
Related events
Sources
- Yellow Fleet (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org
- The Suez Canal's worst stuck ship fiasco lasted eight years (Quartz) qz.com