Egypt re-works Suez Canal toll system

The Suez Canal Authority Chairman Admiral Mohab Mamish said that he had successful talks with global shipping companies regarding the Suez Canal’s new toll system during his recent business tour abroad.

Mamish explained that he has reached lucrative agreements which stipulate on levying toll charges three years in advance for a 3 per cent discount, while offering a five per cent discount for a 5-year advance payment.

The Suez Canal Authority’s chairman told UK’s Daily Mail that talks with Maersk, Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Co. and France’s CMA CGM were going well, and that an agreement on a new system for the start of 2017 might be reached very soon.

In October, Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk, which runs the world’s biggest container shipping line said it is considering proposals from the Suez Canal Authority for a new toll system. “They have proposed a new payment method and presented it to us, and we are looking at it now,” a spokesman for its Maersk Line shipping arm said.

Reporters quoted Mamish during a press conference at Port Said Governorate premises saying that negotiations are underway with some of the shipping firms to uplift the discount.

Mamish pointed out that the proposed agreement aimed at raising much-needed hard currency from a struggling industry.

He has stressed that the central bank does not interfere in the process of determining the transit charges, noting that it is the Suez Canal Authority’s responsibility.

During an official business tour, Mamish has promoted for Egypt’s trade and investment opportunities. He also announced new projects in the ports and logistics sector.

The Suez Canal is one of the main sources of foreign currency for a country that has struggled to overcome a crippling dollar shortage since an uprising in 2011 caused an exodus of foreign investors and tourists. Egypt aims to double its revenue from the Canal by 2023 with the construction of an extension to the waterway that was completed last year.

Traffic through the waterway linking the Mediterranean and Red Sea has been hit by fallout from the political instability as well as a slowdown in global trade and oil prices.