Suez Canal surcharges and circulars
How the Suez Canal Authority layers temporary percentage surcharges and rebates on the base transit dues schedule, and how to find the rate in force.
The Suez Canal Authority sets a base transit dues schedule in SDR per Suez Canal Net Tonnage ton and then moves the effective toll by numbered circulars and periodicals that apply percentage surcharges, rebates and incentive discounts to individual vessel categories. The base schedule can stand unchanged for years while the surcharge layer is amended several times in one year, which is why a toll carried across from a previous voyage estimate is unreliable.
Each instrument names the category it amends and the circular it replaces, so the current position for a ship type is found by tracing the chain rather than by reading the base schedule alone. Rebate circulars have also been used as a competitive instrument against the Cape of Good Hope routing, targeted at specific trades and laden or ballast conditions.
The full article will explain the circular numbering and the periodical series, how a rebate is claimed and evidenced, the interaction with the northbound and southbound distinction for vehicle carriers, and the practical retrieval problem that the Authority publishes circular bodies through a client-rendered interface. See Suez Canal transit dues .