According to the Russian Satellite News Agency, Osama Rabiyeh, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, said in a speech at the Egyptian parliament on the 13th that since November 2023, the rising tensions in the Red Sea region have caused nearly 3,395 ships to be forced to change their course and sail to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa without entering the Suez Canal.
Rabieh said the voyage of a freighter around the Cape of Good Hope at the southwestern tip of the continent would take much longer, and the Suez Canal was an ideal route for international trade.
The International Monetary Fund recently said that the Suez Canal shipping volume fell by two-thirds in April this year compared with last year, exacerbating the disruption of global trade.
According to Egypt's Suez Canal Authority, overall trade through the Suez Canal plummeted by 50% year-on-year in the first two months of 2024, and the canal's revenue in 2024 will also be cut to about $5 billion from $10.25 billion last year.
In an updated warning to customers earlier this month, Maersk, a global shipping company, said that danger zones in the Red Sea were expanding and that areas further offshore were also beginning to be attacked. This will further lengthen sailing times and drive up freight rates. Maersk expects capacity between the Far East and Europe to fall by 15% to 20% in the second quarter of this year.
Currently, Yemen's Houthi group controls most of Yemen's Red Sea coast. In November 2023, the group warned of intent to attack any ships linked to Israel, calling on other countries to recall crews. To avoid being attacked, many shipping companies around the world, including Maersk, have chosen to avoid the Suez Canal and bypass the Cape of Good Hope route.
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