A Suez Canal authority official on Monday said income from canal transit fees went up 16 percent last year to hit a record $3.2 billion. Suez Canal income for 2004 stood at $3.275 billion, up from $2.819 billion in 2003, the official said, adding that a total of 17,224 ships carrying 646 million tons of goods had crossed the Suez.
Tolls paid by U.S.-led coalition military ships involved in the Iraq war have helped income to rise over the past two years but the official said increasing international commerce activities and the use of bigger containers were responsible for last year's boost.
