273 ships cross Suez Canal with 14.86m tonnes cargo within six days

A total of 273 ships traversed the Suez Canal with a total cargo of 14.86m tonnes between 13 and 18 February, Suez Canal traffic data revealed.

The average number of ships that traversed the canal per day was 45.5, with an average cargo of 2.48m tonnes. Average cargo per ship was 54,400 tonnes.

This compares to an average of 47 ships prior to July 2015, before the inauguration of the New Suez Canal, when the average cargo was 2.758m tonnes per day.

Three large Danish container ships— the Magleby Maersk,  Mathilde Maersk and  Munkebo Maersk—traversed the canal last week, with a cargo load of 200,360 tonnes per ship.

A total of 126 passed through the canal from the west – coming from the Port Said entrance in the North – a daily average of 21 ships. The total cargo load from the west amounted to 6.96m tonnes, with a daily average of 1.16m tonnes.

A total of 147 ships traversed the canal from the east – coming from the Southern entrance of Suez Canal – with a daily average of 24.5 ships. The total cargo load reached 8.9m tonnes, with a daily average of 1.48m tonnes.

Cargo is the main criterion in calculating the growth in revenues from the Suez Canal, given that transit fees are calculated based on the cargo load.

In 2015, revenues from the Suez Canal declined by $290m to $5.175bn.