Suez Canal transit dues
How the Suez Canal Authority assesses transit dues: SDR per Suez Canal Net Tonnage across thirteen vessel categories on a seven-band regressive scale.
Suez Canal transit dues are assessed in Special Drawing Rights per Suez Canal Net Tonnage ton, on a published schedule that divides shipping into thirteen vessel categories and charges each on a seven-band regressive scale with separate laden and ballast columns. The bands run the first 5,000 tons, the next 5,000, the next 10,000, the next 20,000, the next 30,000, the next 50,000 and the remainder, with containerships carrying an additional band.
The regressive structure means a large ship pays a far lower effective rate per ton than the first-band figure implies, which is why quoting a canal cost from the headline rate overstates a Suezmax toll by a factor approaching three.
The full article will carry the complete category table, the cross-application rules that catch a ballast product tanker at the crude ballast rate and a ballast combined carrier at the dry bulk rate, the measurement basis and the Special Tonnage Certificate that certifies it, the ten currencies accepted, and the pilotage, mooring and transit-related dues that sit alongside the transit due itself. See Suez Canal Net Tonnage and voyage estimation .