The president of the Suez Canal Authority, Osama Rabie, announced that last month the Egyptian channel was was crossed by a total of 1,358 ships, with an increase in by +26.9% compared to 1,070 ships transited in August 2025. The tonnage of ships transited last month amounted to 68.3 million tonnes (+51.1%) and the revenues generated of transit fees paid by ships amounted to 567.1 million dollars (+56.7%).

In the first eight months of 2026, the Suez Canal was crossed by a total of 9,602 ships for a total of 437.9 million tonnes SCNT, with increases of +17.4% and +33.4% on the same period of last year. The rights of Transit paid in the period reached a value of almost 3.5 billion dollars (+34.5%).

The growth trend of maritime traffic in the canal Egyptian, which began in the second half of 2025 after the Yemeni Houthis had declared their suspension of its attacks on ships transiting the Red Sea, seems not to have yet been impacted by the recent recovery of the crisis situation in the region. Indeed, the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, linked to the conflict with Iran, which has effectively forced the closure of the sea route that crosses it, has pushed Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia to redirect most of its exports of oil to the western port of Yanbu, on the Red Sea, fueling transits through Suez. However, last July the Houthis have imposed a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, conducting attacks on Saudi ships in the Red Sea. Despite In this new escalation, traffic through Suez continued to increase, also supported by a new redirection of Saudi oil exports, with Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea have been diverted further northwards, through the Suez Canal and the SUMED pipeline in Egypt that connects the Ain Sokhna terminal, in the Gulf of Suez, at the oil terminal Mediterranean area of Sidi Kerir, near Alexandria. At the most recent growth in ship traffic in the canal has also contributed the ongoing suspension of attacks on ships in the Red Sea, with the last incident that occurred on August 24 when a VLCC tanker owned by the Saudi Bahri had been hit by a bullet off Yanbu ( of 24 August 2026).