The army and navy stepped up patrols of the 190-kilometer (118-mile) canal linking the Red and Mediterranean seas about a week ago, he said. "Closing the canal outright would be very difficult without the support of the military," Barclays notes as the army and navy steps up patrols of the 190km canal.

While unrest that toppled Hosni Mubarak, Mursi’s predecessor, failed to halt traffic last year, fewer vessels passed along the canal. An average of 1,435 ships a month used the link, the lowest figure since 2005. So far, traffic is "normal and has not faced any disruptions."

Via Bloomberg,

 

 

The canal handles about 8 percent of seaborne trade, according to Barclays. It carried about 4.5 percent of global trade in oil in 2011, the bank said.