The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has suspended the 15% discount on transit fees previously granted to large containerships. The suspension took effect on Tuesday, according to a circular published on the SCA website on April 2, 2026.
The rebate, first announced in May 2025, was introduced to encourage containerships that had been rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope to return to the Suez Canal. It applied to vessels with a Suez Canal Net Tonnage (SCNT) of 130,000 tons or more, whether laden or in ballast, transiting the canal northbound or southbound.
The discount required no application or document submission and was automatically applied during transit. With the suspension, large containerships will now pay the standard transit fees.
This change marks a shift in the SCA’s policy for incentivizing container traffic and reflects evolving operational and commercial considerations for the waterway.
