Not only was there a shift from sail to steam. There was a remarkable growth of the merchant marine as a whole. The tonnage of british ships more than doubled between 1830 and 1870, and just at the end of the period the opening of the Suez canal in 1869 gave another impetus to sea-borne transport.The swift decrease of the costs of shipping goods by water made it possible for England to sell its wares, even bulky ones of iron,all over the world, and also made it easier and less expensive to import both raw materials like cotton and wool, and food like wheat.