Suez Canal registers new record in January at 1,774 ships with tonnage of 106.1M tons

CAIRO – 2 February 2022: Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie said on Tuesday that the canal traffic registered unprecedented records in January 2022.

In a statement on Tuesday, Rabie said 1,774 ships transited the waterway in the two directions in January 2022 with a tonnage of 106.1 million tons compared with 1,594 ships in the same month in 2021.

The authority's revenues hit $544.7 million in January 2022 against $495.7 million in January 2021, he noted.

The Suez Canal achieved the largest annual net tonnage of 1.27 billion tons during 2021, and accounted for 15.7 percent of the total global seaborne grain trade.

The Egyptian Suez Canal Authority is considering granting reductions in transit fees ranging from 10 to 20 percent for ships that comply with environmental standards.

Suez Canal revenues expected to rise to $7 billion by the end of 2022, compared to its highest ever $6.3 billion achieved in 2021, Rabie said earlier.

Rabie added, during a TV interview - that the Suez Canal seeks to increase its share of the global trade to more than 12 percent, compared to the 10 percent achieved in 2021.

"The canal will turn into a green one by 2023, as we have started using alternative energy in our facilities, whether from wind or from the sun, instead of regular energy, and we will invite passing ships to switch from ordinary fuel to hydrogen,” Rabie explained.

MENA contributed to the reporting.