213 ships transit the Suez Canal in 5 days carrying 12m tonnes

Suez Canal traffic data showed that 213 ships transited the canal, with a total load of 12m tonnes, from 11 to 15 December.

An average of 42.6 ships transited the canal per day during that period, with an average load of 2.4m tonnes per day. The average load per ship was about 56,340 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 2.758m tonnes per day.

Three major container ships—the Danish vessels Mayview Maersk, Malta’s Tihalma, and the Marshal Islands Gener8 Chiotis—transited the canal carrying 200,000 tonnes each.

The number of vessels that passed coming from the west through the northern entrance was 113 vessels, with a daily average of 22.6 vessels, and a total load of 0.8m tonnes, recording a daily average of 1.36m tonnes.

Meanwhile, 100 ships transited the new channel coming from the south, with a daily average of 20 vessels, and a total load of 5.2m tonnes, recording a daily average of 1.04m tonnes.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced last week a decline in the canal’s revenues over the fiscal year (FY) of 2015/2016 to $5.1bn—a drop of 4.5% from FY 2014/2015, in which revenues amounted to $5.4bn.

The cargo load is the main measure for shipping traffic in the Suez Canal and the calculated transit fees.

The following table shows traffic through the Suez Canal between from 11-15 December: