File Photo: Liberia-flagged container ship RDO Concord sailing through Egypt's Suez Canal in the canal's central hub city of Ismailia. AFP
Vessel transits climbed 10 percent year-on-year and cargo tonnage rose 22 percent, authority Chairman Osama Rabie said in a television interview on Sunday, noting, however, that both metrics remain short of the canal's pre-disruption targets.
The recovery reflects an easing of regional tensions that had driven shipping lines to avoid the Red Sea and Bab El-Mandeb Strait in favor of the longer Cape of Good Hope route.
Declining insurance premiums are now tipping the balance back toward the shorter passage, Rabie said.
The authority is also expanding its operational capabilities, adding the Fakhr 1 — a vessel equipped for geological surveys, marine investigations, and petroleum services — to its fleet.
It also signed an agreement with Cairo Governorate to manufacture five river buses and four tourist launches as part of a broader push to develop domestic maritime industries, he added.
The figures mark a significant turning point following a difficult period for the canal, a critical source of foreign currency for Egypt alongside tourism and remittances. In 2024, revenues plummeted to $4 billion from $10.2 billion in 2023, due to the tensions in the Red Sea.
The recovery has been building steadily. During the first half of the 2025/2026 fiscal year, the canal reported an 18.5 percent rise in revenue, with the final quarter of 2025 seeing a further 24.5 percent increase.
The canal registered a record-breaking $9.4 billion in the 2022/2023 fiscal year.
Rabie said he expects a fuller recovery in the period ahead as regional conditions continue to stabilize.
The Suez Canal mobilizes 12 percent of world trade.
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