327 ships transit Suez Canal with 18.8m tonnes in last week

Suez Canal traffic data revealed that 327 ships transited the canal, with a total load of 18.8m tonnes, from 5 to 11 August 2016.

An average of 46.71 ships transited the canal per day during that period, with an average load of 2.7m tonnes per day. The average load per ship was about 57,500 tonnes during that period.

Compared to July 2015, before the inauguration of the New Suez Canal, the average daily number of transiting vessels totaled 47 vessels, with an average load of 2.76m tonnes per day.

Three major Danish container ships—Maren Maersk, Merete Maersk, and Madison Maersk—transited the canal carrying 200,360 tonnes each.

The number of vessels that passed through the new channel coming from the west through the northern entrance was 148 vessels, with a daily average of 21.14 vessels, and a total load of 8.32m tonnes, recording a daily average of 1.9m tonnes.

Meanwhile, 179 ships transited the canal coming from the south, with a daily average of 25.57 vessels, and a total load of 10.38m tonnes, recording a daily average of 1.48m tonnes.

During the anniversary of the new canal’s launch, Vice Admiral Mohab Mamish, chairperson of the Suez Canal Authority, announced that revenues have increased by 4% since January, recording a total of $3.2bn as of August.

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

The following table shows traffic through the Suez Canal between from 5 to 11 August 2016: