Egypt's Suez Canal revenue fell by nearly half in January after Yemen's Houthi rebels launched a series of attacks on ships in the Red Sea, an Egyptian official said.
The attacks forced major shipping companies to avoid the waterway, causing revenues to fall to $428 million in January, down from $804 million in the same month in 2023, said Osama Rabie, director of the Suez Canal Authority. The number of ships passing through the canal has dropped by 36%, Rabie said. Many commercial vessels that pass through the Suez Canal and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait have had to take alternative, longer routes around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope, causing changes and delays.
However, Mr Rabie said the Suez Canal remained the "best, fastest and safest" route, pointing out that the Cape of Good Hope route was "unsustainable, there were no services and it was very difficult to navigate".
The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, are attacking ships believed to be linked to Israel in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The attacks have severely affected the Suez Canal, Egypt's main source of national income and foreign currency.
The decline in Suez Canal revenues comes as Egypt grapples with a deepening economic crisis, with the currency falling to an all-time low against the dollar, causing prices to soar and making life difficult for its citizens. Cairo has secured a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but has received little in return, due to slow progress in selling state assets, exchange rate flexibility and other economic reforms proposed by the fund.
KHANH MINH
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