Suez Canal offers up to 65pc discount to back-hauling USEC-Asia carriers
THE Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has announced plans to offer 65 per cent to eastbound back-hauling carriers from the North American east coast to Asia, reports Lloyd's Loading List.
This is viewed as a challenge to the born-again Panama Canal and the fee-less but longer Cape (of Good Hope) Route, now made attractive by the over-capacity afflicting shipping today as well as the collapse of oil prices that makes quick steaming around South Africa cheaper than before.
With immediate effect, says the SCA, containerships departing from Norfolk, Virginia, and North American ports further north heading to the port of Kelang in Malaysia and east Asian ports thereafter will be granted a 45 per cent reduction on the Suez Canal's normal tolls, according to the SCA.
Ships heading to Kelang and ports further east from destinations south of Norfolk on the US east coast will receive a 65 per cent discount on fees, while services originating south of Norfolk calling at the Port of Colombo and eastern ports up to Kelang shall be granted a 55 per cent reduction in Suez tolls.
Meanwhile, the Panama Canal wants to bring back business it lost to the Suez Canal in recent years when its third set of locks open later this month.
The multi-billion dollar project will allow vessels of up to 14,000 TEU to traverse the Americas for the first time, compared with the current maximum vessel size of 5,000 TEU.
THE Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has announced plans to offer 65 per cent to eastbound back-hauling carriers from the North American east coast to Asia, reports Lloyd's Loading List.
This is viewed as a challenge to the born-again Panama Canal and the fee-less but longer Cape (of Good Hope) Route, now made attractive by the over-capacity afflicting shipping today as well as the collapse of oil prices that makes quick steaming around South Africa cheaper than before.
With immediate effect, says the SCA, containerships departing from Norfolk, Virginia, and North American ports further north heading to the port of Kelang in Malaysia and east Asian ports thereafter will be granted a 45 per cent reduction on the Suez Canal's normal tolls, according to the SCA.
Ships heading to Kelang and ports further east from destinations south of Norfolk on the US east coast will receive a 65 per cent discount on fees, while services originating south of Norfolk calling at the Port of Colombo and eastern ports up to Kelang shall be granted a 55 per cent reduction in Suez tolls.
Meanwhile, the Panama Canal wants to bring back business it lost to the Suez Canal in recent years when its third set of locks open later this month.
The multi-billion dollar project will allow vessels of up to 14,000 TEU to traverse the Americas for the first time, compared with the current maximum vessel size of 5,000 TEU.