Egypt has successfully tested a new 10-kilometer channel near the southern end of the Suez Canal. Since the Houthis insurgents in Yemen started attacking passing ships in the Red Sea, Egypt’s revenue from the Suez Canal has sharply declined.
The Suez Canal Authority stated that during the trial run, two vessels successfully passed through the canal’s new bidirectional section.
In 2021, the container ship “Ever Given” ran aground, causing a six-day blockage of the Suez Canal. Since then, Egypt has accelerated plans to extend a second channel in the southern part of the canal and widen the existing channel.
However, since Yemen’s Houthis began attacking merchant ships in the Red Sea in November 2023, the channel, which is the shortest route to Eurasia, has seen a sharp drop in revenue for Egypt.
Egypt’s Suez Canal lost about $7 billion in revenue in 2024, down more than 60 percent from 2023, due to “regional challenges,” President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said the other day.
According to the Suez Canal Authority, the latest expansion extends the total length of the two-way section of the canal to 82 kilometers from the previous 72 kilometers. The canal is 193 kilometers long. The expansion will increase the canal’s capacity by six to eight ships per day and improve the canal’s ability to handle emergencies.