The Suez Canal Authority issued new resolutions concerning the fees of the transiting ships through the canal to be applied during the next year 2022. Admiral Osama Rabea, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, announced, on Thursday, increasing the transit tolls of all the types of transiting ships through the canal by 6% during 2022 compared to 2021. This planned increase will be applied in the beginning of next February. Cruise ships and LNG ships will be excluded from this increase.

The Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority explained that the resolutions of deciding the tolls of transiting through the Suez Canal and flexible marketing policies subjected to extensive studies which are prepared by the economic unit experts that are affiliated with planning and research department in Suez Canal authority after the careful follow-up and scrutiny of all variables related to the shipping market and the global economic indicators and the global trade movement, as well as reviewing periodic reports, and the recommendations issued by the organizations and institutions working in the maritime transport industry and the estimates of global financial institutions, where the International Monetary Fund’s forecasts indicate that the global economy will grow at rates of 5.9% and 49% in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) are also expecting continued growth in world trade traffic and rise in the demand for maritime transport at rates of 6.7% and 4.7% respectively, in 2022, thereby predicting continued high levels of the freight and good profits for shipping companies.

The decision to raise the tariffs came after the Suez Canal set a new record for transits during October. The number of ships was up 14 percent year-over-year with a total of 1,847 transits. Net tonnage was up more than 11 percent to 112.1 million tons contributing to a 12 percent increase in revenues to over $551.1 million. 

The Suez Canal recorded its highest ever daily transits on September 29, 2021. A total of 87 vessels made the passage totaling 4.8 million net tons. During the day, a total of 49 vessels were northbound while 38 made the southbound transit.

During the first ten months of 2021, the Canal saw a nearly nine percent increase in tonnage. A total of 17,020 ships made the trip versus 1,380 in the first 10 months of 2020. (Photo: Suez Canal Authority)