TRIESTE – According to Suez Canal Authority Chairman Ossama Rabiee, navigation statistics show a 5.8% increase in the number of vessels in transit and a 16% rise in net tonnage compared with the same period of the previous fiscal year. The direct effect has been on revenues, up 18.5%.
The figures refer to performance in the first half of fiscal year 2025/2026. Even more telling, however, are the updated numbers released in early 2026. Since 1 January, 1,315 ships have transited the canal, for a total of 56 million tonnes of net tonnage and revenues of $449 million. In the same period of 2025, transits stood at 1,243, with 47 million tonnes and revenues of $368 million.
Rabiee linked the improvement to a phase of relative stabilization in the area, which began in the last quarter of 2025 after tensions tied to the conflict in the Middle East and to navigation security between the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb. In his address (two days ago) at the international MARLOG conference, dedicated to resilient logistics corridors, he stressed that the Suez Canal had proved resilient even during the most critical phases.
On structural measures, the Authority highlighted the completion of the development project for the canal’s southern sector, which increased navigational safety by 28%, alongside enhanced operational services and process digitalization. For now, the figures released remain the only official, confirmed reference on Suez Canal traffic trends at the start of 2026.
