The head of the agency in charge of Egypt's Suez Canal says the shipping lane has broken its record for the amount of cargo sent through it in a single day. Mohab Mamish, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, said 68 ships crossed the canal on Friday, with a total load of 4.8 million tons. Mamish said that's the most ever to pass through the canal in a single day since it opened in 1869.

The Suez Canal is one of Egypt's main sources of foreign currency. Its revenues reached $438.1 million in May 2013, compared with $434.6 million in May 2012.

The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the canal in 1956.