After the drastic drop of -36.8% in maritime traffic in the Suez Canal recorded last January, the impact of the crisis in the Red Sea on ship transits in the Egyptian waterway caused by from the repeated attacks on ships crossing the Bab Strait el-Mandeb led by Houthi militiamen, who have been in the process since the end of 2019. 2023, was further accentuated in February 2024 when Only 1,120 ships passed through the canal, a decrease of -42.8% compared to February last year, including 376 tankers (-43.2%) and 745 other types (-42.6). Last February the net SCNT tonnage of ships crossing the channel amounted to 45.7 million tonnes, with a reduction of -59.8%.

The effects of the crisis in the region are also being felt by revenue generated by transit fee payments in the last February, which amounted to 10.6 billion Egyptian pounds ($219 million), -53% about less than in February 2023.

In the first two months of this year, ship transits in the canal there were a total of 2,482 for a total of 106.7 tons SCNT, with declines of -39.7% and -55.0% respectively on the same period of 2023, of which 836 tankers (-37.5%) and 1,646 other type (-40.7%).

The sharp contraction of maritime traffic in the Egyptian canal continued in March and in the first half of 2015. April of this year, with unofficial data pointing to reductions daily transit times between about -40% and -65%.