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Egypt’s Suez Canal has reported a 23.4-percent drop in revenues attributed to disruptions in Red Sea shipping over the past year, marked by attacks from Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Israeli-linked vessels. The canal is a crucial source of foreign currency for Egypt, which is currently grappling with a severe financial crisis.
Egypt’s Suez Canal has reported a 23.4-percent drop in revenues attributed to disruptions in Red Sea shipping over the past year, marked by attacks from Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Israeli-linked vessels. The canal is a crucial source of foreign currency for Egypt, which is currently grappling with a severe financial crisis. Since November, the Houthis (Ansar Allah) have launched numerous attacks on ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
The Iran-aligned group says the attacks are aimed at vessels with links to Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza. The attacks have forced many major shipping firms to suspend passage through the Red Sea, which usually carries about 10 percent of global trade, and divert their vessels thousands of miles around Africa.
Oussama Rabie, the president of the public body that administers the canal, attributed the decline to the severe impact of the Red Sea crisis on traffic in the canal because security problems encourage many ship owners and operators to take alternative routes. The use of these alternative routes has increased travel times and costs.
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The canal recorded during the financial year 2023/24 the passage of 20,148 ships, generating revenues of USD 7.2 billion, compared with 25,911 ships during the financial year 2022/23, with revenues of USD 9.4 billion, the Suez Canal Authority said in a statement on Thursday.
