Water and air transport

The essentials

Water transport is the cheapest means for heavy, bulky goods over long distances because water offers little friction and no route needs to be built, except at ports. It is divided into sea routes and inland waterways.

Inland waterways depend on navigable rivers, canals and lakes. Important ones include the Rhine (navigable from Rotterdam to Basel in Switzerland, flowing through an industrial region), the Danube, the Volga, and the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Seaway in North America.

Key points

• Northern Atlantic Sea Route: links north-eastern USA and north-western Europe, the two most industrialised regions; called the Big Trunk Route and is the busiest.
• Mediterranean–Indian Ocean Sea Route: passes through the Suez Canal and serves more countries than any other route.
• Cape of Good Hope Sea Route: an Atlantic route that carries far less traffic than the Northern Atlantic route; ships on this route round the southern tip of Africa instead of using a canal.
• North Pacific Sea Route: links western North America with Asia.
• Suez Canal: opened in 1869 in Egypt, linking Port Said on the Mediterranean with Port Suez on the Red Sea; a sea-level canal with no locks; shortens the route between Europe and the Indian Ocean.
• Panama Canal: connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across the Isthmus of Panama; uses a system of locks to raise and lower ships.
• Air transport is the fastest mode; it suits high-value, light and perishable goods and remote areas, but it is costly.
• Intercontinental air routes are densest in the Northern Hemisphere, especially across the North Atlantic, linking eastern USA, western Europe and South-East Asia.

Exam tips

Remember: Suez – no locks; Panama – locks. Know which oceans or seas each canal joins.

Common mistakes

The Cape of Good Hope route does not use any canal; it goes around southern Africa.