Suez Canal Authority says maritime traffic in the Suez Canal is normal
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Egypt's Suez Canal Authority released a statement on Sunday assuring the canal was the shortest route for shipping companies, and explained that it is "closely following" Red Sea tensions and their impact on canal crossings.
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Egyptian holiday-makers play water ski as a cargo container ship, crosses the Gulf of Suez towards the Red Sea at al Sokhna beach in Suez, 127 kilometers (79 miles) east of Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Aug. 26, 2022
The head of the Suez Canal Authority, Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, confirmed in statements reported by Cairo News on Sunday that maritime traffic in the Suez Canal is normal.
Egypt's Suez Canal Authority said it is "closely following" Red Sea tensions and their impact on canal crossings after Yemen armed forces' attacks on Israeli vessels or vessels heading the Israeli ports forced major shipping lines to avoid the region temporarily.
Since November 19, 55 ships have diverted to utilize the Cape of Good Hope route between Europe and Asia rather than the canal, according to SCA Chairman Osama Rabie in a statement issued Sunday as reported by Cairo News.
Rabie confirmed that in total 2,128 vessels crossed the waterway within the period, assuring that the canal would remain the fastest and shortest route for shipping companies.
The head of the authority explained that regular travel time for vessels would take roughly 9 days to two weeks between Asia and Europe, whereas rerouting could have the possibility to extend their trips by an additional 9 or 10 days.
Shipping firms MSC, CMA CGM suspend passage through Red Sea
After repeated operations from Yemeni Armed Forces in the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Shipping Company and CMA CGM, announced Saturday they were suspending passage through the Red Sea.
The declaration by MSC, an Italian-Swiss conglomerate, and CMA CGM, a French shipping company, follows a similar move by the world's second-largest shipping company, A.P. Moller-Maersk, who announced, on Friday, the suspension of all container traffic through the Red Sea until further notice.
This decision comes in response to an attack by the Yemeni Armed Forces on container ships heading to Israeli-occupied Palestine in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Simultaneously, the Yemeni Armed Forces announced that their Naval forces carried out a military operation against the Maersk Gibraltar cargo ship, which was en route to the Israeli occupation entity.
On Saturday morning, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) claimed a US missile destroyer in the Red Sea shot down 14 drones fired from Yemen, adding that regional allies had been notified of the incident.
