Suez Canal: We have not received any American request to prevent Russian ships from crossing

Cairo -

The head of the Suez Canal Authority, Osama Rabie, confirmed that the United States did not ask Egypt to close the shipping lane in the face of Russian ships due to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, denying news circulated by media and activists on social media.

In a telephone interview with the “Echo of the Country” satellite channel, Rabie said that the Suez Canal is a neutral global shipping lane that is not subject to policies and wars, and that the authority cannot prevent any ship from crossing the canal, and that his country distances itself from any political dispute between countries, and maintains its neutrality.

The United States and a number of countries signed sanctions - most of them economic - on Russia because of its war on Ukraine, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov - in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera - downplayed the importance of these sanctions, and said that his country is able to face all forms of pressure, and that it has friends and allies. Who did not lose their independence, unlike Europe and other countries, he said.

Transit fees are linked to the global market

On the other hand, on the Suez Canal’s raising of transit fees during it, the head of the authority said that the shipping lane is linked to the global trade movement, and that there are different mechanisms for pricing ships’ transit fees through it, noting that ship charter prices increased by 20%, and oil prices exceeded $100 per barrel. Thus, the tolls for ships crossing the canal were increased.

Rabie clarified that it is possible to reduce ship transit prices next month in accordance with developments in the global situation and the global transport market, noting that the authority moves in transit fees "in accordance with global market developments", pointing out that it is studying exempting container ships that come from conflict areas from delay fees in Cross the fairway.

9 stops in a century and a half

It is worth noting that during more than 152 years since its opening in 1869 and until now, the Suez Canal has only been closed to global navigation only 9 times, some of which were due to wars and political crises, and others due to weather factors and the stranding of ships or tankers in its course that connects Between the Red and Mediterranean Bahrain.

According to the Egyptian government newspaper, Akhbar Al-Youm, the Suez Canal was closed for the first time to navigation following the Urabi Revolution in 1882, that is, 13 years after its opening, as a result of the events in the country and the Urabi resistance to prevent the British occupation of Egypt, and the halt did not last more than two days.

The second time, in which the Suez Canal was closed to navigation, was in 1885, when a dredger collided with a ship, which led to the sinking of the dredger and disrupting navigation for 11 days. It was also closed, for the third time, in 1905, when two ships collided, which led One of them caught fire, and this incident disrupted navigation for 10 days.

The world wars caused the canal to be closed twice, the first in 1915, when navigation in the canal was halted due to the First World War and the sinking of a number of ships in Port Said, and during the Second World War for a period between 1940 and 1942.

The fifth decade of the last century witnessed the closure of the canal twice, the first in 1952 due to the sinking of a ship, and the second in 1956 due to the tripartite aggression against Egypt (launched by Israel, Britain and France), while the largest period of closure witnessed by the canal was the period between the setback of June 1967 and until After the October victory over Israel, specifically in 1975.

The last closure of the Suez Canal to navigation traffic, last year, was due to the delinquency of the giant container carrier "EverGiven", which lasted nearly a week until the efforts to float the stranded ship succeeded.

About 12% of the volume of international trade and about 22% of container trade pass through the Suez Canal, according to

made by Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Nevin Gamea to a local website at the beginning of this year.