CAIRO: A Suez Canal Authority official reported that the movement of cargo container ships crossing the Suez Canal during August declined by 15.7 percent and the overall decline for the past 10 months continues to rise, which is leading analysts and the Egyptian government worried over the future of the waterway. The announcement comes as a lull in piracy off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden had lifted hopes that the canal would see some sort of return to normalcy, but that time is still in the future, says a number of international security reports. The official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, said that the number of container ships was highest in terms of percentage of ships passing through the Suez Canal and this made up some 56 percent of all vessels that passed through the single-lane canal. He added that the number of container ships crossing the Suez Canal during the month of August amounted to 523 vessels with a tonnage of 35.345 million tons compared to 41.944 million tons. The official added that the decline in container tonnage began last November due to the global financial crisis and at first “it was limited and reached 1.3 percent in tonnage, while the decline in the number of ships was 8.7 percent, but reached its peak back in February by 32.1 percent in tonnage and 25.1 percent in the number of vessels” crossing the canal. The authority added that the decline began again during the months of June, July and August and they expect that the movement of container vessels would be back to normal in the coming months. Concerns of piracy continue to loom for the canal. Last year, analysts, led by the Chatham House foreign policy think tank, called for maritime reinforcements to battle the increasing number of piracy acts that have plagued the coastal waters of Somalia. They argue that if drastic measures are not taken immediately, the Suez Canal could be cut off. It hasn't been, at least not yet. Still, worrying foreign governments and insurance companies is the arsenal of weapons at the pirates’ disposal, which includes heavy weapons, rocket-propelled grenades and sniper rifles. The Chatham House report said insurance premiums for shipping through the Gulf of Aden have increased tenfold. The combined danger and cost, it said, could “mean that shipping could be forced to avoid the Gulf of Aden/Suez canal and divert around the Cape of Good Hope”. “This would add considerably to the costs of manufactured goods and oil from Asia and the Middle East,” the report said. It also warns that if an oil tanker was seriously damaged in a pirate attack it could cause a “major environmental disaster.” Revenues of Suez Canal during the first 8 months of this year amounted to a noticeable decline of $879.7 million compared to the corresponding period last year. The total revenue received by the Egyptian government has reached $2.75 billion, compared to $3.63 billion during the same period one year ago. Another source familiar with the authority said that the revenues of Suez Canal declined in the month of September by $117.1 million compared with the same month of last year. The source said that the decline rate amounted to 18.5 percent of revenues. **additional reporting by Mohamed Abdel Salam BM
