Suez Canal
Suez Canal: Traffic resumes in Egypt’s $7 billion revenue generating facility
Traffic has resumed in Egypt’s Suez Canal hours after an oil tanker ran aground in the Canal on Wednesday night, briefly blocking a section of the canal and clogging maritime traffic.
Traffic resumed hours later after the Singapore-flagged vessel, Affinity V, was refloated by tug boats.
The incident was caused by a technical fault to the ship’s radar that resulted in loss of control, the Suez Canal Authority said.
The Suez Canal is a vital waterway that connects the Mediterranean and the Red Sea and sees over 10% of the world’s maritime trade.
Last year, a huge container ship, the Ever Given, ran aground after becoming wedged diagonally on the channel.
For about a week, the stranded vessel became a source of worry and frustration for the global shipping industry before it was freed.
The Suez Canal Authority reported record annual revenue of $6.3 billion in 2021 despite headwinds from COVID-19 and the grounding of the Ever Given, which shut the waterway for six days back in March 2021.
The waterway also recorded its largest-ever annual net tonnage of 1.27 billion tons, for an increase of 8.5% compared to 2020, with 20,694 total ship transits for a year-over-year increase of 10%.
Chairman of Suez Canal Authority, Osama Rabie, said the rate of increase in volumes transiting through the canal, measured in tons, exceeded that of global trade growth, which amounted 3.7%, according to Clarksons.
The number of LNG carriers increased by over 36%, from 686 LNG carriers in 2020 to 937 in 2021. The number of containerships increased by over 10% to 5,186 ship transits, while the number of bulk goods ships increased by over 15% to 5,893 transits.
The Suez Canal Authority in November announced a 6% toll hike, starting in February 2022, for all sectors with the exception of LNG and cruise ships. Rabie said this week the hike is expected to raise an additional $400 million annually for the canal.