Egypt, Suez Canal: Red Sea Crisis Halves Revenues

The Red Sea crisis has a major impact on the economy of Egypt, which owns the rights to the Suez Canal, a privileged route for trade between Asia and Europe before the current insecurity situation. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that as a result of Houthi attacks on transit ships, revenues from the Suez Canal (through which between 12 and 15% of the world’s traffic passes under normal conditions) have fallen by 40% to 50% since the beginning of the year.

Many shipowners decided to opt for an alternative route, longer but safer, around Africa. “The Suez Canal once brought Egypt almost 10 billion dollars a year. These revenues have decreased by 40-50%, and Egypt must continue to pay companies and partners,” al-Sisi explained, according to Radiocor news agency.

The UN adds a figure for container ships, whose traffic declined by 67% year-on-year, while tanker transit fell by 18%, grain and coal ship transit by 6%, and gas shipments were discontinued.

Since January, the USA and Great Britain have launched several airstrikes against Houthi military installations. Also active as of today is a European mission, in this case purely defensive, named Aspides, which, according to Italian Minister Antonio Tajani, represents “a step towards a common European defense.”