The volume of ship traffic in the Suez Canal continues to strongly affected by the geopolitical crisis in the Middle East East, with the first effects dating back to the end of 2023 when the Houthi rebels had begun to attack ships in transit in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and in the Red Sea and which, due to the Growing conflicts in the region have continued to this day although attenuating given that the most dangerous area for the maritime traffic is now that of the Strait of Hormuz.

In the first three months of 2026, the Suez Canal a total of 3,324 ships, a number that represents an increase by +11.5% compared to the same period last year and is however, -47.3% lower than in the first quarter of 2023 when the war events in the region had not yet exploded. In the period January-March 2026, tanker transits increased 1,388 (+23.9%) and those of other types of ships 1,936 (+4,0%). The net SCNT tonnage of ships transited total, amounted to 142.9 million tons (+23,6%). In the first quarter of this year, transit rights paid by the ships that crossed Suez amounted to 55.9 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.1 billion), with a up about +23% over the first three months of 2025.

In March of this year alone, the Egyptian canal was 1,191 ships have been crossed globally, with an increase of +11.2% on March 2025, of which 503 tankers (+15.4%) and 688 ships of other types (+8.3%). The net SCNT tonnage of ships transited was 51.5 million tons (+21.8%) and the transit fees paid by ships amounted to 21.2 billion of Egyptian pounds (+26.2%).