302 ships transited Suez Canal during last week

Suez Canal traffic data revealed that 302 ships transited the canal with a total load of 17.387m tonnes from 15 to 21 January 2016.

About 43 ships transited the canal per day on average during the past week with an average load of 2.54m tonnes per day. The average per ship load was 59,068 tonnes.

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, three major Danish ships transited the canal carrying 200,360 tonnes each; the Maersk Mayview, Maersk Magleby, and Maersk Merete.

About 139 ships transited the canal heading south with a daily average of 19.86 ships and a total load of 8m of cargo, a daily average of 1.142m tonnes. About 163 ships passed through the new channel from the east through the southern entrance, a daily average of 23.3 vessels, with total loads of 9.556m tonnes, a daily average of 1.365m tonnes.

Cargo load is the main measure of shipping traffic in the Suez Canal, on which fees for the transit are calculated. Suez Canal Data also revealed that the revenue declined throughout 2015 to $5.175m compared to $5.465m, a $290m drop.

The decline was a result of increasing other currencies used for fees of transit against the dollar, as well as the slowdown of the global economy and the crash of oil prices.

The following table shows traffic through the Suez Canal between 15 and 21 January 2016: