Suez Canal Raises Transit Surcharges Across Key Sectors

The Suez Canal as it passes through Egypt
Africa Corporate News Shipping Ports & Logistics
by Eve Church

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has announced higher transit surcharges for most vessel categories, increasing costs for ships using the strategic waterway from July 15.

In a series of new navigation circulars, the Egyptian canal operator confirmed that temporary fees applied in addition to standard transit dues will be raised, citing current market conditions as the reason for the adjustments.

Crude oil tankers and petroleum product carriers will experience the largest increases. Laden vessels in these segments will face a surcharge of 37% of normal canal dues, up from 25%, while ballast vessels will see the rate rise from 15% to 27%.

LPG carriers and chemical tankers will be subject to a 32% surcharge, compared with the previous 20%, while LNG carriers will see their additional charge increase from 7% to 19%.

The dry bulk sector will also be affected, with surcharges for bulk carriers climbing from 10% to 22%, more than doubling under the revised structure.

Container ships, which have gradually been returning to the Red Sea and Suez Canal route, will continue to operate under the existing tiered surcharge system and face an additional charge of 12%.

Other vessel categories, including general cargo ships, heavy-lift vessels and ro-ro carriers, will see surcharges increase from 14% to 26%. Vehicle carriers will face different rates depending on their direction of travel, with northbound voyages subject to a 26% surcharge and southbound transits charged 12%.

Passenger vessels are the only ship category exempt from the latest surcharge increases.

The revised fees will apply to ships beginning their canal transit on or after July 15. The SCA said the surcharges are temporary measures based on its assessment of current maritime market conditions and may be modified or withdrawn depending on future developments.

While the temporary surcharges are being increased, the canal’s underlying tariff structure remains unchanged. The SCA has not adjusted its base transit rates since 2024.