SCA Circular No. 3/1997 effective 1.1.98

Article 1
The Suez Canal Authority announces that transit dues for 1998 shall remain unchanged, and that circular no. 7/1996 shall stay in force.

Article 2
Further facilities and privileges, as stated in the attached explanatory note (detailed below) are to be duly granted.

Explanatory Note:

Crude Oil Tankers:
Volume incentives crude oil quantities transported through the Canal are to be calculated on the basis of such quantities that have been transported during a year starting from the contracting date with SCA rather than the same calendar year.

LNG’s:
Ballast and loaded LNG’s are to be granted a discount of 35% on Suez Canal dues shown in the attached table regardless of destination.

Combined carriers (O/B/O):
When transiting in ballast, combined carriers are to be charged at the same rate applied to ballast bulk carriers.

Chemical/Oil tankers:
When transiting in ballast, chemical/oil tankers are to be charged at the same rate applied to oil tankers.

Container ships:

1. In case there is an upward protrusion of more than 4 feet, the protrusion is to be calculated as an extra container.
   
2. The extra 6% of the Suez Canal dues, levied on ballast container ships carrying only empty containers in the cargo holds, is to be canceled, paragraph B/5/b, article 98 of the
   
3. Suez Canal Rules of Navigation.

Ro/Ro ships:

a. Circulars 428374 and 432728 on 25/2/1979 and 1/12/1984 respectively, regarding Ro/Ro ships which transport containers on the main deck, are to be canceled together with articles 100/A, 100/B/1/b and 100/B/3 of the Suez Canal Rules of Navigation.

b. Ro/Ro ships are to be treated just like container ships that carry containers on deck so far as extra dues on deck tiers are concerned, with due consideration of the following:-

• Transit dues for other categories of vessels remain to be applicable to Ro/Ro ships.
• Rolling cargo is to be treated as containers on deck.
• When Ro/Ro ships carry floating units or general cargo on deck, extra dues are to be calculated in accordance with circular No 11/1995 regarding lash ships that carry floating units and/or general cargo rather than their traditional cargo.
• The said regulations are to take effect regardless of what Ro/Ro ships carry under deck.
• Dues calculated according to these new regulations should not exceed those calculated on the basis of adding the actual volume of containers on deck to the Suez Canal net tonnage.

Lash Ships:
The additional dues of 6%, levied on ballast vessels that carry only barges in their holds, are to be canceled.
General Cargo ships:

1. The additional dues of 6%, levied on ballast vessels that carry only empty containers in their holds - thus treated as container ships - are to be canceled (items 4 and 5 article 99 of Suez Canal Rules of Navigation are to be canceled).

2. Item B, page 91 of the Suez Canal Rules of Navigation is to remain in effect with regards to semi-submersible vessels. Other categories of heavy lift ships are subject to the following regulations:-

a. Vessels that carry a floating unit of 300 tons (SCGT) or more are charged extra dues of 300% of the normal dues of the floating unit, calculated on the basis of SCGT. No escort tugboat is imposed.

b. Vessel that carry large units are charged extra dues of 50% of the normal transit dues if the large unit is 250 metric tons or more.

No escort tugboat is imposed.

Special floating units:
A unified rate of transit dues is to be applied on the following floating units as shown below:-

• Yachts
• Dredgers
• Rigs
• Floating docks
• Fishing boats unequipped with cargo holds
• Military/war ships (with the exception of ships affiliated to the Navy and used to transport oil and cargo).
• Tugboats
• Research vessels
  • First 5000 tons: SDR 7.21
  • Next 5000 tons: SDR 4.14
  • Next 10000 tons: SDR 3.77
  • Rest of the tonnage: SDR 2.63

Owners of dry bulk cargo ships that work between Australia/North West Europe or South Africa/ Mediterranean may get in touch with the SCA Planning, Research and Studies Dept., the Economic Unit to decide the proper dues in advance.
Rebate requests and relevant documents are to be addressed to the long haul committee which will study the cases and decide according to the applicable rules and regulations.