Adm. Ossama Rabiee, Chairman and Managing Director of the Suez Canal Authority, announced that traffic through the Canal today has witnessed the transit of the mega cruise ship AROYA amongst vessels of the northern convoy. The ship is on its way to Port of Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from Port of Istanbul, Turkiye.
This transit comes in the framework of the efforts aimed at promoting the Suez Canal’s position as a pivotal hub for maritime tourism and logistical services. That is as the Ship is scheduled to call at Sharm El-Sheikh Port amongst its ports of call with 2300 tourists of various nationalities and 1500 crew members on board.
AROYA, sailing under the flag of the Marshall Islands, is 335 m. in length, has a beam of 38 m. and can carry 3362 passengers as well as 1620 crew members on board.
Adm. Rabiee highlighted that the Ship's third transit within less than one year proves the growing confidence in the Canal's capabilities and readiness to accommodate all classes of cruise ships. The Ship previously transited in December of 2024 and June of 2025.
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Adm. Rabiee pointed out that the Authority's flexible marketing policies have succeeded in attracting international passenger ships to transit through the Canal. Cruise ships that transit through the Canal benefit from transit toll reductions and incentives provided by the Authority to cruise ships calling at Egyptian ports on the Mediterranean and Red Sea.
Adm. Rabiee added that the flexible marketing policies for cruise ships have yielded notable positive results. The incentives granted have succeeded in attracting 69 cruise ships between 2021 and 2024, with a total number of passengers reaching approximately 38,000. These ships have generated revenues of approximately 15.8 million dollars.
The Authority's marketing policies come amid expectations that the global cruise tourism market will witness significant growth. It is estimated that the number of cruise ship tourists will reach approximately 38 million by the end of 2025, rising to 40 million by the end of 2026.
