The canal also achieved the highest annual transit of ships, numbering 23,851 ships, as well as the highest annual net tonnage of 1.4 billion tons, said the SCA.

The SCA published on Wednesday an infograph comparing the navigation statistics in the Suez Canal between 2008-2014 and 2016-2022 -- before and after the inauguration of the New Suez Canal project that established a parallel path to the original.

The figures showed an eight percent increase in the number of vessels: 135,000 ships crossed the canal after the opening of the new path, up from 125,000.

In terms of tonnage, approximately 8.2 billion tons transited the canal between 2016 and 2022, up from 6.2 billion tons in the preceding timeframe, reflecting a 32 percent increase, the SCA reported. 

Total revenues recorded $41.7 billion in the seven years after the operation of the new canal, up from $35.4 billion between 2008 and 2014, making an increase of 17.8 percent, the SCA continued.

Another SCA infograph showed 2022 revenues recorded $2.5 billion more than in 2014, which stood at $5.5 billion.

The average number of ships transiting daily in 2022 was 68, up from 47 in 2014. The capacity of the canal also increased by a depth of 24 metres to accommodate large ships and drafts, the SCA said.

This allowed the canal to compete with other routes and slash the time spent in transiting from 22 to 11 hours.

The new canal project also increased navigational safety by increasing space, the SCA announced, which enhanced the canal's ability to deal with potential emergencies.

In spite of the challenges the canal faced with the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, it had still managed to achieve a “large boom” in revenue, the SCA said.