Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority saw monthly revenues almost halve in January 2024 year-on-year, its chairman said Saturday, following a string of Yemeni rebel attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
"In January of last year, we saw revenues of $804 million, versus $428 million this year, which means a loss of 46%," Admiral Osama Rabiee told Egyptian television channel ON.
The number of vessels that sailed through the crucial waterway, which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, last month was down 36% compared to January 2023.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels said in November they would attack any Israeli-linked or Israeli-bound ship passing through the Red Sea in retaliation for the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, leading the United States to announce the creation of a multinational operation to secure navigation in the area.
A UK channel reported in January that global shipping costs had risen by more than 300% since November as vessels were forced to take longer alternative routes around Africa to avoid the Suez Canal.