June 5, 1975: One day after Israel completes the withdrawal of 3,500 soldiers, 15 tanks and missiles behind a demarcation line 20 miles away from the Suez Canal, Egypt reopens the canal eight years to the day after it was closed by the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Egypt’s President Anwar el Sadat calls it “the happiest day in my life.” After a hundred doves are released, Sadat cuts a thin chain across the canal’s entry as he stands on the Egyptian destroyer, Sixth of October in the waters of Port Said.
Two hours later, a commercial convoy made up of ships from China, Greece, Kuwait, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia sails through.
Ironically, most new oil tankers built in the eight years that the canal was closed cannot use the waterway. They’re too big. They have to wait until the canal is dredged and widened to accommodate them. Many tankers still use the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, which adds 12 days to a journey, because it’s cheaper than paying the prohibitive tolls Egypt imposes on ships sailing througjh the canal. See also: