CAIRO: Egypt reported the number of Israeli ships and tonnage crossing through the Suez Canal has seen a noticeable decline in the first 10 months of this year. The Suez Canal Authority reported that the rate of tonnage decreased by some 42 percent, while the number of Israeli ships decline by 6.25 percent compared with the same period last year. The official statistics issued by the Department of Information and Statistics of the Suez Canal, showed that the total number of Israeli ships crossing the Suez Canal during the period from the beginning of January until the end of October amounted to 15 ships with total tonnage reached 169 thousand tons, compared to 16 vessels with total tonnage reached 291 thousand tons during the same period last year, a decline of one ship and 122 thousand tons in cargo. The Suez Canal attributed the decline to the ways some Israeli ships resort to using flags of other countries because of the political situation in the region. BM
