The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has reported that weekly container ship traffic through the Suez Canal has dropped by 67 percent from peak levels, following a campaign of Houthi raids in the Red Sea that have pushed shipping companies to seek other routes. The Yemen-based group says the attacks are a means of exerting pressure to end the war in Gaza.

Overall traffic through the Suez, a source of important revenue for Egypt, has fallen by 42 percent. UNCTAD says that the disruptions have also impacted countries such as Djibouti, Kenya and Tanzania who benefit from the transportation of goods through the canal.

Neither ongoing airstrikes by the US and UK on Houthi positions inside Yemen nor a US-led maritime coalition to protect commercial shipping appear to have boosted trade traffic through the Suez Canal.

Source: Al Jazeera