(17 Apr 2025)
RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ismailia, Egypt – 16 April 2025
1. Wide shot of ships navigating the Suez Canal with international flags lining the canal’s edge
2. Wide shot of a large cargo ship being escorted by tugboats in the Suez Canal
3. Wide shot of the ship "AEGEA" navigating through the Suez Canal with tugboats assisting
4. Wide shot of ships navigating the Suez Canal with water salutes
5. Wide shot of international flags waving at the Suez Canal
6. Wide shot of attendees seated at the Suez Canal Excellence Day event
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie, Head of Suez Canal Authority:
“We will talk about navigation traffic in 2024, which reflects the crisis we are currently facing. There was around a 50% decline in the number of ships in 2024, a 66% drop in shiploads, and about a 61% decrease in revenues in dollars — meaning that in 2023 we generated $10.2 billion, while in 2024 we generated $3.9 billion.”
8. Mid shot of attendees watching a presentation at the Suez Canal Excellence Day event
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie, Head of Suez Canal Authority:
“I call upon all ambassadors, those (whose countries) are affiliated with the (operating) companies, to inform them that the Red Sea has now become safe. The last ship targeted by the Houthis was on December 2 of last year. And the Houthis themselves have announced that they will no longer target ships. We, and I personally, see no reason for ships to go around the Cape of Good Hope, which takes over two weeks longer than passing through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, consumes more fuel, more sailing hours, higher wages for sailors and results in greater pollution due to the (extra) fuel consumption.”
10. Wide shot of the Suez Canal with flags lining the promenade
11. Wide shot of a cargo ship navigating through the Suez Canal
12. Wide shot of a large vessel navigating the Suez Canal with tugboats assisting
13. Wide shot of pilot boats navigating the Suez Canal
STORYLINE:
Egypt’s revenue from the Suez Canal plunged by almost two thirds last year, officials said Wednesday, attributing the sharp drop to regional tensions and wars in the Middle East that have impacted traffic through the key waterway.
The canal generated an annual revenue of $3.991 billion in 2024, down from a historic high of $10.25 billion in 2023, said Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie, Head of Suez Canal Authority during a celebration of excellence day.
The day commemorates the refloating the Panama-flagged Ever Given, a colossal container ship nearly 400 meters (yards) long, crashed into a bank on a single-lane stretch of the canal in March 2021, blocking the waterway for six days and disrupting global trade.
Canal traffic has been significantly disrupted after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels started to threaten maritime trade and targeting vessels heading to Israel through the Suez Canal to pressure Israel to stop the war in Gaza, which started on Oct. 7, 2023.
The canal is a major source of foreign currency for the Egyptian government, with about 10% of world trade flowing through the waterway in recent years.
Between November 2023 and January 2024, the Houthis targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two ships and killing four sailors. The rebels insisted the attacks would continue as long as the wars go on and have devastated shipping through the region.
According to the Egyptian canal authority, only 13,213 ships passed through the canal in 2024, marking a 50% decline compared to the number of ships in 2023, when over 26,000 ships passed through.
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