RTFri, 08 Apr 2016 10:22 UTC
© www.linkedin.com"From sea to shining sea," two proposed routes.
said Iranian Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanai, speaking to students in St. Petersburg.
Any canal linking the two has to go through Iran. "Yes, this issue is being discussed", said the ambassador on Thursday without specifying details, quoted by TASS.
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed inland body of water in the world. Its coastline is 7,000 kilometers long and is bordered by Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan.Also on Thursday, Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran agreed to speed up the talks on a
North-South transport corridor, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Part of it will go
along the western coast of the Caspian Sea from Russia to Iran through Azerbaijan.The North-South corridor, when built, is expected to significantly reduce the time of cargo transport from India to Central Asia and Russia. At present, it takes about 40 days to ship goods from Mumbai in India to Moscow. The new route will be able to cut this time to 14 days.
The corridor will also bypass the overloaded and expensive Suez Canal.
Comment: This project has a many aspects to consider: geopolitics, typography, routes, economics, environment, technology, distance, altitudes, shallows, displaced populations, ecological issues, natural hazards i.e.: earthquakes, timetable and political issues in all countries involved.
First proposed in the 1890s (!), today's estimated cost is about $7 billion. The West and Turkey tried to block this project, with the US imposing sanctions on companies that were involved. Why are we not surprised.
While still a 'pipe-dream', this is surely doable.
The world's longest canal, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, was completed around 600 AD. It remains the longest man has ever built!
The distance, as the crow flies, between Iran's major port on the Caspian, Bandar-e Anzali, and its major port in the Persian Gulf, Bandar Abbas, is just over 1,300 kms.
The Beijing-Hangzhou Canal is 1,776 km in length!
Such a project would completely open up central Asia, and nix, in one fell swoop, Western control of world shipping routes and the energy markets.
Comment: This project has a many aspects to consider: geopolitics, typography, routes, economics, environment, technology, distance, altitudes, shallows, displaced populations, ecological issues, natural hazards i.e.: earthquakes, timetable and political issues in all countries involved.
First proposed in the 1890s (!), today's estimated cost is about $7 billion. The West and Turkey tried to block this project, with the US imposing sanctions on companies that were involved. Why are we not surprised.
While still a 'pipe-dream', this is surely doable.
The world's longest canal, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, was completed around 600 AD. It remains the longest man has ever built!
The distance, as the crow flies, between Iran's major port on the Caspian, Bandar-e Anzali, and its major port in the Persian Gulf, Bandar Abbas, is just over 1,300 kms.
The Beijing-Hangzhou Canal is 1,776 km in length!
Such a project would completely open up central Asia, and nix, in one fell swoop, Western control of world shipping routes and the energy markets.