Chapter 924 Ocean

East Africa's move in Mindanao shows its determination to explore the ocean. Correspondingly, in 1897, 27 large ship repair and construction companies were newly established in East Africa. With the expansion of territory, the number of available ports in East Africa has also increased significantly. These ports are local and overseas colonies, and the local ports are mainly in the south and west.

At the same time, with the expansion of territory, the expansion of inland shipping mileage in East Africa, inland water transport ports have also grown rapidly, especially under East Africa's ambitious "East African Grand Canal" plan, the prospects for inland shipping industry are broader.

At the same time, overseas territories such as Lanfang Overseas Province, South Ryukyu Islands, North Hawaii Kingdom, Balabac Island, Mindanao Island, etc. also provide a large number of excellent ports for East Africa's ocean strategy.

Among them, Balabac Island has also played an important role as East Africa was incorporated into Mindanao Island, connecting the Mindanao colony and Lanfang Overseas Province.

"At present, there are 25 key ports that have been identified and put into construction in my country, which are concentrated in the east. There are fewer ports in the west, but each developed port has good conditions. The cities where these 25 ports are located basically correspond to the economically developed areas in the coastal areas." Ernst said to the government officials.

Although the coastline of East Africa is relatively straight and lacks excellent seaports, there are more than 40 seaports that have been built and developed in East Africa. These more than 40 ports basically undertake the national foreign trade of East Africa, and the more important 25 of them are the most important ones in East Africa.

In contrast, there are inland water transport ports. The number of inland ports in East Africa has exceeded more than 200. The difference between the two is significant, and with the development of the inland economy, this gap will be further widened.

There are more than 60 ports in the Great Lakes region alone, mainly distributed in the Great Lakes (Lake Victoria) and the rivers that flow into the Great Lakes.

The second is the Lake Malawi Basin and Lake Solon (Lake Tanganyika). These three regions are the most developed areas in East Africa's inland shipping industry, and together they account for more than 50% of East Africa's inland shipping.

Of course, although the number of inland ports far exceeds that of seaports, the value between the two is obviously not equal. It is not an exaggeration to say that the importance of a seaport for external communication is more important than ten inland ports.

"At present, my country's development and utilization of the ocean is obviously lagging behind other countries in the world. Not to mention those territorial powers, even Germany has more seaports than my country, although its seaports are mainly small and medium-sized ports in the Baltic Sea."

Germany's seaports are concentrated in the north, including Poland and Russia's Kaliningrad in the past, so there are not many German seaports, but most of them are confined to the Baltic Sea. There is no big problem in developing the economy in peacetime, but in wartime, its navy is basically impossible to achieve much.

The same countries include Tsarist Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Empire is not like the previous life. It now owns Venice, Trieste and other Adriatic coasts, but it is also the Adriatic Sea that limits the performance of its navy.

Not to mention Tsarist Russia, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea are its main economic seas, both of which are restricted. Although there are ports in the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Ocean, neither of them is suitable for economic activities. Among them, Murmansk is known as a year-round ice-free port, but it is not a relatively active area in Russia's economy. Like Vladivostok, its military use is more prominent.

Of course, apart from these three unlucky guys, the shipping conditions of other world powers, at least in terms of the number of seaports, are only Brazil and the Far East Empire worse than East Africa.

The Far East Empire was mainly opened to the sea for too short a time, and even under the threat of the powerful ships and guns, it opened some areas as trading ports, while Brazil was completely due to poor economic development and uneven regional development.

From this point of view, the number of East African seaports is not as good as the top, but better than the bottom. Given the limited number of seaports and the increasingly frequent overseas trade in East Africa, the East African government naturally attaches unprecedented importance to the available ports.

"Faced with increasingly fierce competition in the ocean, East Africa cannot only develop the inland without paying attention to port construction. In addition to some special-purpose ports, the number of commercial ports should exceed 100, so as to better drive the development of coastal economy and relieve the pressure of existing ports."

Special-purpose ports mainly refer to military ports. In this regard, East Africa is quite considerate of the navy, and basically reserves the best port areas in various major sea areas for use as naval bases.

The goal of breaking through 100 seaports is a bit difficult, but it is not impossible to achieve, because there are still a large number of undeveloped bays in East Africa, especially in the eastern Mozambique region.

The reason why these African countries had few seaports in the past life was mainly because of insufficient economic strength and lack of ability to develop and utilize these bays or river estuaries.

Of course, the inactive foreign trade of the country is also an important factor. In the past life, the economic level of African countries was fully sufficient for the existing ports, so the local governments were not keen on building new ports, or they were powerless due to knowledge, war and other reasons.

The most typical example is that the Eastern powers helped these African countries build infrastructure such as ports and roads. If it were not for the rise of emerging forces, Africa would not even have a chance.

This situation will naturally not occur under the rule of East Africa. East Africa itself is one of the "infrastructure maniacs" of this era, so the East African government is more attentive to the construction of seaports.

"In addition to the construction of domestic naval vessels, the construction of colonial ports should also make breakthroughs, among which Pontianak, Zamboanga and Davao are the key points."

As for other colonies, they are mainly reflected in strategic value. Their economic value is difficult to compete with the above three ports. Although the resources of Lanfang Overseas Province are a little worse, the area is not small, and Mindanao has basically no shortcomings except for climate and population.

Others, such as the South Ryukyu Islands and the Kingdom of North Hawaii, are too small. Some islands in the South Ryukyu Islands even have water sources. These colonies are barely enough as naval bases, and there is not much potential for economic prospects.

The Alaska colony is an accident. Although the area, resources and population are not small, East Africa does not have the strength to develop Alaska now. After all, it would be a big loss if it was picked by surrounding forces after hard work and vigorous development.

Alaska is surrounded by wolves. Canada, the United States, Tsarist Russia, and Japan all have the strength to do so. Similarly, the South Ryukyu Islands and the Kingdom of North Hawaii also have such a possibility. Therefore, for these three regions, the main strategy of the East African government is still stability. As long as the stability of local rule can be guaranteed, there will be the possibility of long-term development in the future.

"Of course, port construction is equivalent to road construction. It is not possible without vehicles. Compared with other major countries in the world, my country's shipbuilding industry is far behind. Therefore, vigorously promoting the development of the shipbuilding industry is one of the important tasks of the government and enterprises in the next ten to twenty years."

"The shipbuilding industry is one of the major heavy industrial sectors in the world, involving metallurgy, machinery, electricity, chemistry and other fields. It can effectively drive the development of related industries. Therefore, investment in the shipbuilding industry is very important, especially the training of related personnel is a long-term process."

For what Ernst said, many officials of the East African government are also very clear that the development of the shipbuilding industry cannot be separated from personnel and technical support. After all, its engineering volume is huge, the process is complex, the investment is large and the system is emphasized.

The shipbuilding industry is a veritable industrial jewel since the Age of Discovery. If East Africa wants to compete with other countries in the ocean, it naturally cannot do without the rapid development of its local shipbuilding industry.