Amid the global economic crisis, the revenue from the Suez Canal has dipped sharply by 22.7 per cent to $346.9 million in April this year, as compared to the corresponding period last year.
A monthly report from the Egyptian Cabinet Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC), however, said the total revenue of $448.9 million in April was 5.8 per cent more than the previous month.
According to the report, the number of vessels transitting the international waterway, has dropped by 13.4 per cent from 1,712 vessels in April last year. Though the monthly figure has increased by three per cent, compared to 1,439 vessels in March.
Of the total 1,482 vessels, the number of oil tankers crossing the Canal in April had decreased to 266 from 298.
The number of other vessels had also decreased by 14 per cent, from 1, 414 to 1,216, the report said, adding that the figure was 6.5 per cent less in the previous month.
Opened in 1869, the 192-km-long single-lane Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, allows easier transportation between Asia and Europe, without navigating around Africa.