320 ships transit Suez Canal, with an increase of 1.3%

By Mohamed Ahmed

Suez Canal traffic data revealed that 320 ships transited the canal with a total load of 18.101m tonnes from 20 to 26 November. Data also cited that two weeks before, 316 vessels have transited the canal carrying a total load of 19,088m tonnes.

About 46 ships per day transit the canal on average in the past week with an average load of 2.6m tonnes per day, compared to an average of 45 ships two weeks before with an average load of 2.7m tonnes.

Average per ship load reached 56,567 tonnes, compared to 60,404 tonnes during the same period last year.

In July 2015, before the inauguration of the New Suez Canal, the average daily number of transiting vessels totalled at 47 vessels with an average load of 2.758m tonnes per day. Last week, the Barzan of Malta transited the canal carrying 200,607 tonnes.

Cargo load is the main measure of shipping traffic in the Suez Canal, on which fees for the transit are calculated. About 161 ships transited the canal heading south with a daily average of 23 ships and a total load of 8.405m tonnes of cargo, a daily average of 1.2m tonnes.

The number of ships that passed through the new channel from the east through the southern entrance was about 159 ships, a daily average of 23 vessels, with total loads of 9.695m tonnes, a daily average of 1.385m tonnes.

The following table shows traffic through the Suez Canal between 20 and 26 November 2015: