The Suez Canal Authority plans to reduce transit fees by 12 to 15% for select shipping lines, in a temporary move designed to lure vessels back to the vital waterway, chairman Osama Rabie said on Monday.
Rabie revealed the planned cuts during a televised interview, noting that a formal announcement would follow within days, pending final approval from President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. The reductions are scheduled to take effect on Thursday, May 15, 2025, and will remain in place for 90 days.
This discount targets maritime companies that have rerouted their journeys around the Cape of Good Hope, a significantly longer route that avoids the Red Sea.
Since December 2023, most major shipping companies have rerouted their vessels away from the Suez Canal—the shortest trade link between Europe and Asia—to avoid attacks by Yemen’s Houthi movement. The Iran-aligned group has launched repeated drone and missile strikes on ships in the Red Sea in retaliation for Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza.
Despite a reported halt to US strikes against the Houthis after they pledged not to target American ships, Rabie said many operators remain wary of crossing the Red Sea due to continuing missile launches toward Israel.
"Encouraging ships to return to the canal benefits the country, even with a 15% fee reduction," Rabie said. "We still gain 85% from each vessel that comes back."
The fee cuts align with wider efforts to revitalize the Canal Zone. In July 2023, President El-Sisi instructed government bodies to boost investment incentives and remove red tape in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, underscoring its role in Egypt’s industrial localisation strategy. According to the BBC, the Suez Canal accounts for roughly 10% of global trade, generating $9.4 billion in revenue in 2023.
However, commercial traffic through the canal has dropped sharply following Houthi attacks on Israel-linked vessels, resulting in revenue losses of more than 60% during the 2023–24 fiscal year, according to Independent Arabia. The slump comes as Egypt aims to raise Suez Canal revenues to $88.1 billion by 2030 under its long-term development plans.
