314 ships transited Suez Canal last week, with loads of 19m tonnes

Suez Canal traffic data revealed that 314 ships transited the canal with a total load of 19m tonnes from 19 to 25 February 2016.

About 45 ships transited the canal per day on average during the past week with an average load of 2.7m tonnes per day. The average load per ship was 60.5 tonnes.

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

About 149 ships transited the canal heading south, with a daily average of 21 ships. Loads were estimated at 9m tonnes, with daily average of 1.28m tonnes. The number of ships that passed through the new channel coming from the east through the southern entrance was 165 ships, a daily average of 23.6 vessels.

The total loads that transited the new canal recorded 10m tonnes; about 1.43m tonnes passed on average daily.

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 revenue declined throughout 2015 to $5.175m compared to $5.465m, a $290m drop. The decline resulted from 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 19 and 25 February, 2016:

Loads in million tonnes.