After six quarters of decline caused by the consequences of the attacks by Houthi rebels against ships transiting the region in place since the end of 2023, in the third quarter of this year maritime traffic in the Suez Canal has returned growth thanks above all to the +10.6% increase in transits recorded in September when the Egyptian waterway was crossed by 1,152 ships compared to 1,042 in September 2024. The monthly increase was generated by both the growth of the transits of tankers, amounting to 451 units (+5.4%), and of those of other types of vessels, amounting to 701 units (+14.2%). The net tonnage of the ships that last September crossed the canal was equal to a total of 48.0 million tonnes (+16.8%) and the value of transit rights paid by ships amounted to £18.5 billion ($391 million) (+19.4%).

In the third quarter of 2025, the channel was crossed globally by 3,277 ships, with an increase of +2.5% on the same period last year, of which 1,293 ships tanker (+2.5%) and 1,984 other types of ships (+2.5%), for a total SCNT net tonnage of 138.1 million tonnes (+8,6%). The transit fees paid by the ships during the period reached a value of 53.5 billion EGP (+13.1%). It should be noted that the number of ships transiting through the Egyptian canal in the period July-September of this year is -49.8% lower than the number of transits recorded in the same quarter of 2023 before the state of crisis in the Red Sea.

In the first nine months of this year, maritime traffic in the channel was 9,332 vessels, a decrease of -7.3% over the same period in 2024, of which 3,661 tankers (-3.2%) and 5,671 ships of other types (-9.8%) for a total of 376.2 million of SCNT tons (-7.6%). In the period January-September of 2025 The value of transit fees paid was 148.2 billion Egyptian pounds (+11.4%).

Meanwhile, the Suez Canal Authority has denied the news by some media according to which the Egyptian body would have placed under seizure of the oil tanker Dignity which has been stopped for about two months in the port of Suez. The ship is owned and is operated by the Russian Argo Tanker Group and is included in the list of naval units subject to sanctions by the of the USA, the European Union and the United Kingdom in the framework of the measures taken for the invasion of Ukraine by troops of Moscow. In recent days, the Seafarers' Union of Russia (SUR) had announced that a member of the crew of the Dignity had requested the assistance of the Russian trade union because the ship would have been seized by the Egyptian authorities for the non-payment of the Suez Canal transit tax. SUR had specified that the seafarer had reported that the tanker was running out of fuel, resulting in a near power failure on board, and that the shipowner has debts to the 22 crew members of nationality who have not received their salary for more than three months. Confirming that the ship is at anchorage in the port of Suez, the Suez Canal Authority has specified that it is not a party to the case in the matter of a legal dispute between the Sphinx Shipping Agency and the company shipowner for non-payment of debts that this has against the Port Said agency, a dispute that has led to the issuance of Ordinance No. 45 of 2025 by the Economic Court of Ismailia which imposed the seizure and its detention in the port of Suez until payment of the sums due.