The Suez Canal Authority announced on Sunday that it achieved the highest annual revenue in its history during the fiscal year 2020-2021, amounting to $5.84 billion. Authority Chairman Osama Rabie stated in a statement that "despite various challenges, the revenues of the Suez Canal have seen significant growth recently, as navigation statistics for the fiscal year 2020/2021 recorded the highest annual revenue in the canal’s history at $5.84 billion, compared to $5.72 billion during the fiscal year 2019/2020, marking an increase of 2.2% and a difference of $124.3 million."
Rabie explained that "flexible marketing policies succeeded in reducing the negative impact of the coronavirus crisis and attracting 2,519 ships during the first half of the calendar year 2021." This announcement of record revenues comes less than a week after signing an agreement with the owners of the Ever Given container ship, allowing it to leave the canal where it had run aground, blocking navigation for a week in March.
The navigation disruption caused traffic congestion in the canal, leading to a long waiting line of over 420 ships carrying 26 million tons of goods. In 2020, about 19,000 ships transited this waterway connecting the Red and Mediterranean Seas, generating revenues exceeding $5.6 billion for Egypt.
The Suez Canal secures 10 percent of global maritime trade and serves as a link between Europe and Asia. On May 11, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi approved a project to develop the Suez Canal, which includes expanding and deepening the southern part of the canal where the giant ship ran aground. El-Sisi had promised after the grounding of the Ever Given to purchase all the equipment needed by the Suez Canal to cope with such emergencies.
