Cairo, Jan. 2 (BNA) The Egyptian Suez Canal said, on Sunday, that its annual revenues amounted to $6.3 billion last year, the highest percentage in the history of the important waterway.
Major General Osama Rabie, head of the Suez Canal Authority, said that last year’s revenues increased by 12.8% compared to 2020, when the canal achieved $5.6 billion.
He said in a statement that 20,649 vessels flowed through the Suez Canal last year, an increase of 10% compared to 18,830 vessels in 2020.
About 10% of world trade, including 7% of the world’s oil, flows through the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The canal was first opened in 1869, and is a source of national pride and foreign currency for Egypt.
The unprecedented 2021 revenue came as the shipping industry remains under pressure from two years of the coronavirus pandemic.
The canal, one of the world’s most vibrant waterways, was closed for six days in March when a massive Panama-flagged container ship, Ever Given, ran aground in the only stretch of waterway.
insult