ABSTRACT
Transoceanic maritime corridors are a function of obligatory points of passage, which are almost all strategic places, physical constraints such as coasts, winds, marine currents, depth, reefs, or ice, and political boundaries where sovereignty may impede circulation. When possible, interoceanic canals are built to improve the connectivity of shipping networks. International maritime shipping routes are forced to pass through specific locations corresponding to passages, capes, and straits. The Suez Canal is an artificial waterway of about 190 km in length running across the Isthmus of Suez in northeastern Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of Suez, an arm of the Red Sea. The Panama Canal’s 82 kilometers join the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the Isthmus of Panama, running from Cristobal on Limon Bay, an arm of the Caribbean Sea, to Balboa, on the Gulf of Panama. The Panama Canal Authority undertook a privatization policy that began with concessioning its port terminal facilities.
