Suez Canal raises transit fees

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) will increase additional transit fees for almost all categories of vessels from July 15. The increase in costs will affect tankers, gas carriers, bulk carriers and container ships passing through the strategic waterway, reports IndexBox.

According to recently published navigation circulars, the canal operator will increase temporary surcharges that are charged in addition to standard transit tariffs. The SCA explained this by current market conditions.

The largest increase will affect tankers for the transport of crude oil and petroleum products. For loaded vessels, the surcharge will increase from 25% to 37%, and for vessels in ballast – from 15% to 27%. For LPG and chemical tankers, the surcharge will increase from 20% to 32%, and for LNG carriers – from 7% to 19%.

For bulk carriers in the dry bulk sector, the surcharge will more than double from 10% to 22%.

Container ships, which are gradually returning to routes via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, will pay a surcharge of 12%. The canal administration noted that the current multi-tiered system of surcharges for container ships remains unchanged.

For general purpose ships, heavy-duty ships, roll-on roll-off (Ro-Ro) and other types of ships, the surcharge will increase to 26%. Car carriers will pay 26% when moving north and 12% when passing south. The only category that will not be affected by the changes is passenger ships.

The updated surcharge structure will apply to all ships that begin transiting the canal on or after July 15. SCA stressed that the additional fees are a temporary measure and may be revised or canceled depending on the further market situation. The channel’s base tariffs will remain unchanged from 2024.

Tags: Suez Canal