East Port Said access agreement

These considerations arise amidst a significant decline in revenue, attributed to shipping companies bypassing the Canal due to attacks by Houthi militants.

Recent attacks by Iranian-backed Houti rebels on Maersk Line, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC)-operated containerships in the Red Sea have thwarted hopes that ‘Operation Prosperity Guardian’ – a coalition of naval ships led by the US – would make the area safer and allow transits of the Suez Canal to return to normal.

The naval protection force assembled by 10 countries to help protect ships in the Red Sea should result in Suez Canal transits returning to some sort of normality.

The strategy is prefigured by the recent establishment of a dedicated terminals division in Rotterdam

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) will raise fees for ships transiting the canal by up to 15% from 15 January 2024.

APM Terminals was able partly to bridge its loss of revenue per move in Q1 2023 by lowering its costs and increasing tariffs.