While the escalation of the situation of belligerence that opposes the US and Israel to Iran in place since last February 28 it has almost eliminated maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, where the attacks on the ships in the area follow one another, the new state of crisis that has occurred in the Middle East, which involved many nations in the region, does not seem to have had so far a significant impact on ship traffic in the Suez which for some months has recorded clear signs of recovery after the route that crosses the Egyptian waterway had been abandoned by many shipping companies worldwide due to the attacks by Yemeni Houthi militias against ships in transit in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea that began at the end of 2023.

In January 2026, in fact, the growth of transits of ships through Suez, although the positive trend has significantly attenuated compared to the previous two months, so much so that look almost exhausted. With 1,066 ships transited - announced the Suez Canal Authority - last January traffic in the canal marked a slight increase of +1.9% on January 2025. Transits tankers were 421 (+14.1%) and those of units other types of naval vehicles 645 (-4.7%).

If official data reveal a weakening of growth at January, unofficial data indicate a new Sustained increase in traffic in the canal, with about 1,075 transits which would represent an increase of +24.4% over February 2014. last year. Moreover, after the new outbreak of hostilities in the region of February 28, in the first 11 days of the current month the Suez Canal would have been crossed by a total of 441 ships, with an increase of +19.5% over the same period in March 2025, of which 204 ships transited southbound (+7.4%) and 237 northbound (+32,4%).

Meanwhile, today the British United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) has announced that it has been notified of a new accident occurred 35 nautical miles north of Jebel Ali, in the United Arab Emirates, where a container ship was hit by a bullet that caused a small fire in but did not cause any damage to the crew.

The repetition of attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz has forced shipping companies to avoid the area and introduce changes to its maritime services, and increases in tariffs to cover the new costs determined by the state of crisis in the region. In this regard, the federal agency The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has determined that as well as other tariffs and provisions implemented by maritime common carriers as a result of transport threats maritime trade in the Strait of Hormuz and in the waters neighboring countries do not violate the U.S. Shipping Act, which requires them to Allow at least 30 days between publication and date of entry in force of a change to tariffs leading to an increase in costs for freight forwarders, but which, in Article 46, provides for a Procedure by which a common carrier can submit a request for a Special Permit demonstrating a valid reason to reduce this waiting period by 30 days, which must be approved by the FMC.

Meanwhile, if for several months the scenarios of war, the licit and illicit trafficking of war material that takes place mostly by sea and then through the ports. As a result, they follow one another in the airports seizures of exported arms and ammunition and illegally imported. In Italy, the recent blocking of a shipment of ammunition and detonators in the port of Ancona, followed by the discovery of containers in the port of Genoa of a cargo of more than 50 tons of tactical equipment and armament for a estimated value of about six million euros. The operation, announced today it is conducted jointly in the airport of the Ligurian capital by officials of the Customs and Monopolies Agency of Genoa and financiers of the Provincial Command of Genoa, has made it possible to discover more than 1,000 jackets inside containers bulletproof helmets, 700 ballistic helmets and numerous uniforms from combat with chemical infiltration protection. The material was seized because it was introduced into Italy without the necessary prior communication to the Prefecture, which is mandatory when it comes to military equipment, even if only in transit. For these violations, the authorities have been reported judicial court of Genoa three subjects: two Italian citizens, including a Genoese, and a foreign citizen.