Suez Canal revenues slide 40% since the beginning of 2024‎

Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, said on Thursday that the canal’s dollar revenue has decreased by 40% since the beginning of the year compared to 2023, after Houthi attacks in Yemen on ships led to their sailing routes being diverted away from this corridor.

Rabie explained to a late television program that ship transit traffic declined by 30% in the period from January 1-11 on an annual basis.

He stated that the number of ships crossing the Suez Canal decreased to 544 ships so far this year, compared to 777 ships in the same period last year.

The Suez Canal is a major source of foreign currency, of which Egypt suffers a shortage, and the authorities have been striving for years to boost its revenues, including by expanding the canal in 2015. More expansion operations are currently being implemented.

Many commercial shipping companies are diverting their ships to other routes. Last month, the United States announced the launch of a new international mission to patrol the Red Sea to deter attacks.

Rabie stated that only ships forced to complete their journeys urgently diverted their course around the Cape of Good Hope, and that other ships were waiting for the situation to stabilize.

He added, “A large portion of the goods will return again after the matter is over… I believe that what crosses from the Cape of Good Hope is what is necessary to cross, like shipments that must arrive on time… The Cape of Good Hope is not the appropriate route for ships, especially in this climate and winter.”