The shortcut between two oceans
Egypt's Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, giving ships a direct path between Europe and Asia without sailing around the southern tip of Africa. It has no locks: the Mediterranean and the Red Sea sit at close to the same level, so ships pass through on a single continuous channel. That simplicity is part of why it works at scale. A route that would otherwise take weeks around the Cape of Good Hope can be covered in about a day.
The canal normally carries roughly 12 to 15 percent of global trade, the range UNCTAD uses, while Egypt's Suez Canal Authority puts its own share at about 12 percent of global maritime trade. For containers specifically, UNCTAD estimated that about 22 percent of the world's seaborne container trade passed through the canal in 2023. That volume is why the canal is treated as one of the world's handful of true chokepoints, alongside the Strait of Hormuz and the Panama Canal.
How much distance it actually saves
The size of the shortcut depends on the route. A voyage from the Arabian Gulf or the Indian Ocean to Rotterdam or London through Suez covers roughly 6,000 nautical miles; the same trip around the Cape of Good Hope runs closer to 11,000 nautical miles, a difference of about 4,000 to 6,000 nautical miles depending on the ports involved. On an Asia to Northern Europe run, rerouting around the Cape typically adds 3,000 to 3,500 extra nautical miles and 10 to 14 extra days at sea. Those extra days mean extra fuel, extra crew time, and extra days of goods sitting in transit instead of on a shelf, which is why carriers only take the Cape route when the alternative feels riskier or costlier still.
What happens when it closes: the Ever Given
The clearest demonstration came in March 2021, when the container ship Ever Given ran aground diagonally across the canal and wedged there for six days, from 23 to 29 March. Traffic stopped in both directions. Estimates at the time put the value of delayed trade at 9 to 10 billion dollars a day, and Lloyd's List valued the hourly cost at close to 400 million dollars. More than 400 ships queued at either end before the backlog cleared in early April. The episode did not change the canal's design, but it changed how visibly the rest of the world understood its own dependence on one narrow channel in the Egyptian desert.
The Red Sea disruption and where things stand now
From late 2023, Houthi forces based in Yemen began attacking commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea and the Bab el Mandeb strait, the approach to Suez from the south. UNCTAD reported that Suez transits fell by roughly 42 percent in early 2024 as carriers rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope instead, with weekly container transits down as much as 67 percent at points. Canal revenue fell from a record 9.4 billion dollars in the 2022/23 fiscal year to about 7.2 billion dollars the following year, and to roughly 3.6 billion dollars in 2024/25, the low point of the disruption.
As of September 2026, the picture is a partial and uneven recovery. Reporting from Lloyd's List and shipping trade press describes Suez traffic reaching levels not seen since early 2024, with several hundred transits through the Bab el Mandeb chokepoint in a single week during August 2026, even as Houthi attacks have not fully stopped and much of the container shipping market continues to route around the Cape rather than return. Egypt's Suez Canal Authority has reported a sharp financial rebound alongside that traffic recovery: canal revenue reached about 4.67 billion dollars in the 2025/26 fiscal year, up 23 percent year on year, with vessel numbers up about 10 percent and tonnage up about 22 percent. That is a rebound from a depressed base rather than a return to form: it is still roughly half the 2022/23 record. The takeaway for anyone watching the news cycle is that the canal itself never stopped functioning during this period; what closed, gradually and then partially reopened, was the willingness of shipping lines to use it.
Quick facts
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Share of world trade carried | About 12 to 15 percent |
| Share of world seaborne container trade | About 22 percent (UNCTAD, 2023) |
| Ever Given blockage, March 2021 | 6 days, 23 to 29 March |
| Estimated cost of the blockage | 9 to 10 billion dollars a day |
| Extra distance via the Cape of Good Hope | Roughly 3,000 to 6,000 nautical miles |
| Extra time via the Cape of Good Hope | 10 to 14 days |
| Canal revenue, FY2022/23 (record, pre disruption) | 9.4 billion dollars |
| Canal revenue, FY2024/25 (low point) | About 3.6 billion dollars |
| Canal revenue, FY2025/26 | About 4.67 billion dollars, up 23 percent year on year |