Egypt has suffered a $6bn hit from the Red Sea crisis and drop in Suez Canal transits, a minister has told the IMO – but Yemen’s Houthis have vowed to continue their attacks.
Yahya Sarea, a Houthi spokesperson claimed in a weekend televised address that Israel-linked maritime businesses were seeking to change ownership, but the group would not recognise any changes and would continue to attack vessels going to, coming from, or linked financially to Israel.
However, the Houthi definition of ‘Israeli-linked’ has proven inexact, with even vessels belonging to their Iranian and Russian allies coming under attack.
The news suggests that most vessels transiting the Red Sea will be under threat to some extent. The blockade would continue “until the aggression on Lebanon stops… and the siege of the Gaza Strip is lifted”, said the Houthis.
And the group’s desired outcome appears distant. Both presidential candidates in the US election have pledged to continue arming Israel, which reportedly killed at least 71 people and injured 169 in Friday’s airstrike on the suburbs of Beirut, as well as injuring six in a a drone strike on a polio vaccination centre in northern Gaza.
An Israeli warship made its way through the Suez Canal over the weekend, prompting condemnation of the Egyptian government as ‘abetting Israel’s war’. However, Egypt said it was legally bound by international agreements to allow the vessel to pass.
And foreign minister Badr Abdel Aty reportedly told IMO secretary general Arsenio Dominguez on Friday that Egypt’s economy had taken a hit of some $6bn from the drop in Suez Canal revenue.
There is some evidence to suggest this figure could be even higher, as the Houthis have denied access to the Suez Canal to a large number of ships for over a year.
Suez has experienced a drop in traffic of around 60% since the first Houthi Red Sea attack, the hijacking of Galaxy Leader, on 19 November 2023. Before the crisis began, in FY2022-23, the Suez Canal enjoyed record revenues of $9.4bn.
