The voyage is coming from Istanbul, Turkey, and heading to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia... the ship's third Canal transit in less than a year
Lt. Gen. Ossama Rabiee, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, stated that navigation in the Suez Canal today, Wednesday, saw the transit of the giant cruise ship "AROYA" as part of the northern convoy, coming from the port of Istanbul in Turkey and heading to the port of Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
This comes as part of efforts to strengthen the Suez Canal's position as a pivotal hub for maritime tourism and logistics services, as the ship is scheduled to stop at the port of Sharm El-Sheikh among its ports of call, carrying about 2,300 tourists of various nationalities, in addition to a crew of more than 1,500.
The ship "AROYA" flies the flag of the Marshall Islands and is 335 meters long and 38 meters wide. It can carry 3,362 tourists, in addition to 1,620 crew members.
The SCA Chairman affirmed that the ship's transit for the third time in less than a year demonstrates the growing confidence in the Canal's capability and readiness to receive all types of cruise ships, as the ship previously transited the Canal in December 2024 and June 2025.
Rabiee explained that the flexible marketing policies adopted by the Authority have succeeded in attracting global passenger ships to transit the Canal, as cruise ships passing through the Canal benefit from discounts and incentives on transit fees for cruise ships that call at Egyptian ports on the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
The Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority added that the flexible marketing policies for cruise ships have yielded notable positive results, as the incentives granted succeeded in attracting 69 cruise ships during the period from 2021 to 2024, carrying a total of about 38,000 tourists, and these ships generated revenues of about $15.8 million.
The Authority's marketing policies come amid expectations that the global maritime tourism market will see notable growth, as estimates indicate that the number of cruise tourists will reach about 38 million by the end of 2025, rising to 40 million by the end of 2026, according to the official Facebook page of the Egyptian Cabinet.
