341 ships transited Suez Canal with total load of 18.88m tonnes last week

Suez Canal traffic data revealed that 341 ships transited the canal, with a total load of 18.88m tonnes, from 4 to 10 March 2016.

An average of 48.7 ships transited the canal per day during the past week, with an average load of 2.7m tonnes per day. The average load per ship was about 55,360 tonnes during that period.

Prior to the inauguration of the New Suez Canal in July 2015, there was a daily average of 47 vessels transiting the canal, with an average load of 2.758m tonnes per day.

Last week, three Danish container ships – Marstal Maersk, Mette Maersk and Matz Maersk – transited the canal with 200,360 tonnes each.

A total of 176 ships transited the canal towards the south, with a daily average of 25.14 ships and a total load of 9.53m tonnes of cargo, marking a daily average of 1.36m tonnes.

The number of vessels that passed through the new channel coming from the east through the southern entrance was 165 vessels, with a daily average of 23.57 vessels, and a total load of 9.43m tonnes, recording a daily average of 1.35m tonnes.

Cargo load is the main measure of shipping traffic in the Suez Canal and the calculated transit fees.

The Suez Canal recorded revenues of $5.175bn in 2015, marking a $290m decline from the previous year, when they stood at $5.465bn. The decline resulted from the depreciation of the dollar against currencies used for paying transit fees, the fall of oil prices, and the global economy slowdown.

The following table shows traffic through the Suez Canal between from 4 to 10 March 2016: