Traffic through Egypt’s Suez Canal has jumped by more than 10% in recent months, local authorities said, reflecting renewed shipping confidence following the Gaza peace summit. Between July and October, a total of 4,405 vessels passed through the canal, carrying 185 million tons of cargo, up from 4,332 ships and 167.6 million tons during the same period last year, Egyptian officials reported.
Admiral Ossama Rabiee, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), highlighted that 229 vessels transited in October alone, the highest monthly figure since the Red Sea crisis began after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict. He attributed the recovery to the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit in mid-October, where a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire was signed with leaders including US President Donald Trump, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. “The summit had a positive impact on calming the situation in the region and the return of many ships to cross the Suez Canal again,” the Egyptian Cabinet Presidency reported on Facebook.
Rabiee also welcomed the resumption of operations by French carrier CMA CGM, which sent two ultra-large container ships each carrying over 170,000 tons of cargo through the canal, and encouraged other global operators to conduct trial voyages. The rebound comes after Egypt’s President Sisi revealed the Suez Canal lost an estimated $9 billion over the past two years due to instability in the Red Sea, with monthly losses peaking at around $800 million earlier this year.
The Suez Canal, which handles roughly 12% of global trade and links the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, had suffered from rerouted traffic and security concerns after Yemen-based Houthi rebels began attacking commercial vessels in response to the Israel-Hamas war. The recent surge underscores the strategic importance of regional diplomacy in stabilizing one of the world’s busiest maritime chokepoints.
