The Flores Canal

The isthmus between the Western and Eastern Oceans had long been a source of frustration for mariners. In the 1890s a scheme was advanced by the Mayonnaise to construct a canal between the two oceans. Construction started in 1899, but by 1905 the company had run out of money and declared bankruptcy.

In 1913 the Brunswickians, who stood to benefit most from the canal, took over the project, and recommenced construction. They increased the size of the locks to accommodate their latest battleships, but also raised the summit level to 123 feet to save on earthworks. However, between 1915 and 1918 Brunswick was engaged in a war with Colmar, and construction works stopped. In 1917, Arransian contractors agreed to step into the breach, and work restarted. Between then and the opening of the canal in 1923, about half the work was done by the Arransians, and they ended up with a 20% stake in the canal company. At the time, it was the largest single civil engineering project ever undertaken in the world. The summit level is reached by six locks in each direction. During the war, the Brunswickians had laid down two large battlecruisers broadly similar to HMS Hood, only one of which was completed to the original design, the other being converted to an aircraft carrier. These were for many years the largest warships in the world, and would just squeeze through the canal.

When opened, the 135-mile canal rapidly became vital to international trade, and in its first full year passed 13 million tons of traffic, which rose to 23 million tons by 1929. However, it suffered from intermittent water shortages, and indeed in a drought in 1933 was closed for 4 months.

On the declaration of war in 1942, the entire assets of the canal were seized by the Brunswickians. During the war, it proved a vital artery for the transport of military supplies. At this stage, most of the management were Brunswickian, although the small number of Arransians, who included some of the technical specialists, were allowed to continue in post, something that was sanctioned by the government in Danby. In the peace negotiations between Brunswick and Arransia in 1949, the Flores Canal was a major sticking point. While the Arransians accepted that all other war confiscations would go unchallenged, they refused to accept this with regard to the Flores Canal, which before 1942 had been a vital national asset. Eventually, the Brunswickians agreed to a formula by which 5% of the 20% would revert to Arransia in each year that 2 million tons of Arransian shipping passed through the canal, a figure that had only been achieved in 1928, 1929 and 1941.

In the event, the Arransians managed 1.8 million tons in 1950, and exceeded 2 million tons in every year after 1951, reaching 3.5 million tons in 1954. There was a lot of egg on Brunswickian faces.

In 1977, Brunswick and Arransia agreed to transfer ownership of the canal to the Republic of Santa Monica, which it ran through. However, a joint consortium obtained the maintenance and operational contract, which they retain to this day. The canal is now busier than ever, with over 125 million tons of traffic handled each year. At least 12 million tons of this is in Arransian ships, the regular iron ore shipments from Barrozo accounting for a large portion of this. The management and technical staff are virtually all Arransian, and it gives the superficial impression of a wholly Arransian enterprise. Because of the history, Arransian and Brunswickian registered ships enjoy a discount on the tolls. Brunswickian and Arransian warships also have an absolute right of priority over all other shipping, something which caused much annoyance to merchant shipping in the Autumn of 2007 following the large-scale joint naval exercise with Barrozo. The Brunswickians make a point of taking one of their nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines through the canal at least every other year as a demonstration of their global reach.

The canal has never been enlarged since opening, and cannot handle the largest modern oil tankers, nor any Brunswickian aircraft carriers from the Hancock class onwards. The Arransian carrier Queen Margaret can just squeeze through, and has done on several occasions. The official maximum depth is 32 feet, whereas the much-modernised Queen Margaret by 2007 had a full load draught of at least 35 feet, meaning that virtually all the oil fuel had to be pumped out into a tanker at one end, and then replaced at the other end. The replacement aircraft carrier, the Leviathan, due to enter service in 2014, has been explicitly designed to fit through the canal, and will have a draught of only 26 feet, although it is likely some canalside structures will need to be moved to accommodate the overhang of her flight deck. The canal also suffers from intermittent water shortages, although nothing like the drought of 1933 has ever been experienced since. In fact an additional reservoir over 50 miles away was constructed in the 1960s.

Various plans have been advanced for widening the canal and lowering the summit level, but none have so far gone beyond the planning stage. The enormous capital requirement is a major sticking point. In 2007 it seemed likely that a consortium might be put together to finance the project, but the economic downturn in 2008 and 2009 has led to this being postponed.

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