Yemen Monitor / Reuters:
The head of the Suez Canal Authority, Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, said on Wednesday that the Red Sea crisis created by the Houthis did not create a sustainable alternative route to the Suez Canal, and that the indicators are positive towards the start of the return of stability to the region.
He mentioned that the Red Sea crisis “proved the importance of the canal for the sustainability and stability of global supply chains.”
Rabie added in statements in Cairo, “The adoption of the Cape of Good Hope route by many shipping lines led to higher freight rates, increased operating costs and the value of marine insurance, in addition to the increase in fuel consumption and the rise in harmful carbon emissions to the marine environment resulting from the increased duration of voyages.”
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi had said in December that the disruption of shipping lanes cost Egypt about seven billion dollars after a decline in Suez Canal revenues in 2024.
Al-Sisi explained that this represents a decrease of more than 60 percent from the canal’s revenues before that year.
The Iranian-aligned Houthi movement has attacked ships in the Red Sea since November 2023, disrupting global shipping lanes and forcing companies to divert their ships to the longer Cape of Good Hope route around Africa.
