Suez Canal revenue and traffic dropped almost 25 per cent last month as the world economic crisis continued to bite, according to a Canal Authority official.

Canal revenue fell to €222 million from €300 million in February last year and the number of boats dropped to 868 from 1,272, the official said.

The volume of trade passing through the vital shipping route also took a hit, dropping to 53 million tonnes last month from 73 million tonnes in the same period last year.

The Canal Authority decided at the start of the year not to increase tariffs due to uncertainty in the shipping industry in the light of the piracy problem in the Gulf of Aden and the worldwide credit crunch.

Arms manufacturers in particular, have rerouted their shipping round the Cape of Good Hope in recent months to avoid pirates preying on vessels en route between the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean. The canal is Egypt's third-largest source of revenue after tourism and remittances from expatriate workers. The government last year raised more than €3.6 billion from ships passing through the canal.