Egypt’s Suez Canal raises transit toll for ships by up to 10% starting 1 March

CAIRO – 28 February 2022: The Suez Canal, Egypt’s international trade route, has raised the transition toll for all transiting ships by five to 10 percent of the normal transit fees starting Tuesday, 1 March.

As per the Suez Canal Authority’s (SCA) decision, ro-ro ships, heavy-lift ships, and car carriers will pay an additional fee of 7 percent of the normal transit fees.

Petroleum products

Additional fees of five percent of the normal transit fees will be imposed on crude oil tankers transiting the Suez Canal in both directions.

Ships carrying petroleum derivatives and bulk carriers will pay additional fees of five percent of the normal transit fees, according to the SCA.

Additional fees of 7 percent of the normal transit fees are imposed on LNG carriers transiting the Suez Canal in both directions.

Liquefied petroleum gas carriers and ships carrying chemical and liquified materials transiting the canal in both directions will pay additional toll of 10 percent of the normal transit fees.

Single/Multiple-story vessels

Also, the SCA ordered altering the transiting toll of the ships based on the number of stories to reach up to 47 percent of the normal transit fees.

The single-story vessels, the two-story vessels, and the three-story vessels will pay an additional cost of 7 percent, 10 percent, and 12 percent respectively, as per the amendments.

Four-story vessels will pay additional 21 percent, while each of the five-story vessels, six-story vessels, and seven-story vessels will pay additional 31 percent, 37 percent, and 39 percent respectively.

Additional fees of 41 percent, 43 percent, 45 percent and 47 percent will be applied on the eight-story ships, the nine-story ships, the 10-story ships, and the 11-story ships respectively, said the SCA.

“The decision comes in line with the remarkable growth in global trade, the improvement of the economics of ships, and the development of the navigation course and the transit service of the Suez Canal,” the SCA said.

Highest revenue in 2021

The Suez Canal recorded revenues of $6.3 billion during 2021, marking the highest in its history, according to head of the Suez Canal Authority, Osama Rabie.

Rabie clarified that the revenues during 2021 hiked by 12.8 percent, or $720 million, compared to $5.6 billion during 2020.

He added that it achieved the largest annual net tonnage of 1.27 billion tons, exceeding all numbers that have been registered before.

The head of the authority said in a statement, Sunday, that the navigation movement in the canal during 2021 witnessed the transit of 20,694 ships from both directions, compared to the transit of 18,830 ships during 2020, with an increase of 1864 ships, or 10 percent.

The total net tonnages reached 1.27 billion tons in 2021,  compared to 1.17 billion tons during 2020, with an increase of 8.5 percent, or 100 million tons, he pointed.