Hommam Al Nassim 
Bloomberg reports that traffic in the Suez Canal has seen a 41% decline from its peak in 2023, amid rising tensions in the southern Red Sea.
In its latest report, the agency quoted a data platform run by the International Monetary Fund and the University of Oxford as saying that the average daily number of ships has fallen to 49 ships per day, compared to the daily peak in 2023 of 83 transits.
As part of their solidarity with the Gaza Strip, the Houthis launched rocket attacks and drones on cargo ships belonging to Israeli companies or transporting goods between Israel and the rest of the territories.
The attack comes in the context of escalating tensions in the Red Sea and has disrupted navigation in the Suez Canal to its lowest level since the crisis of the stranding of the ship “Evergreen” in March 2021.
The data also showed an increase in the number of ships choosing to pass through the Cape of Good Hope south, as well as a similar rise in traffic on the same route in the southern region of Africa.
In another context, the head of the Suez Canal Authority, Osama Rabie, confirmed that the navigation movement in the canal was stable until the last week of December 2023, but the effects of the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea began to appear.
Rabie pointed out that shipping traffic decreased by 30%, cargo cargo decreased by 41%, in addition to a decrease in dollar revenues by 40% during the period from January 1 to January 15, 2024.