Egypt’s Suez Canal announced Sunday that its annual revenues hit an all-time high of $6.3 billion last year, despite the coronavirus pandemic and a six-day blockage by giant cargo ship the Ever Given.
Connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, the canal accounts for roughly 10% of global maritime trade and is a source of much-needed foreign currency for Egypt.
In 2021, some 1.27 billion tons of cargo were shipped through the canal, earning $6.3 billion (5.5 billion euros) in transit fees, 13% more than the previous year and the highest figures ever recorded, Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chief Osama Rabie said.
He said in a statement that 20,649 vessels, or more than 56 ships per day, flowed through the Suez Canal last year, an increase of 10% compared to 18,830 vessels in 2020.
About 10% of global trade, including 7% of the world’s oil, flows through the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean and Red seas. The canal, first opened in 1869, is source of national pride and foreign currency to Egypt.
The unprecedented 2021 revenues came as the shipping industry is still under pressure from two years of the coronavirus pandemic.
In March, the Ever Given super tanker – a behemoth with deadweight tonnage of 199,000 – got stuck diagonally across the canal during a sandstorm.
A round-the-clock salvage operation took six days to dislodge it, and one employee of the SCA died during the rescue operation. Egypt lost some $12 million to $15 million each day during the canal closure, according to the SCA.
The Ever Given safely returned back through the canal without a hitch in August.
In November, the SCA said it will hike transit tolls by 6% starting in 2022, but tourist vessels and liquefied natural gas carriers will be exempted.
