Egypt is continuing to push up the cost of transiting the Suez Canal as global trade grows.
Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chairman Osama Rabie said on Saturday that prices will be raised by 15% in 2023.
But fees for bulk carriers and cruise ships will only be hiked 10%, Rabie added.
The rises will apply from 1 January.
Leth Agencies said the SCA wants to "apply a balanced and flexible strategy on pricing and marketing that serves its own interest and that of its clients."
The move comes at a time of falling container ship freight rates, but stronger tanker earnings. Bulk carrier rates have also been falling in recent weeks.
But Rabie said rates for most types of vessels are increasing and will continue this trend next year.
He pointed to crude tanker earnings rising 88% so far in 2022 compared to the 2021 average, and LNG carrier rates rising 11%.
Rabie also said rising bunker prices have increased the savings ships can make by using the waterway.
And he added the rises were “inevitable and a necessity” in light of global inflation rates that are pushing up the canal’s operational and navigational costs.
The changes follow a previous hike in tolls in March.
Bulkers, crude oil carriers and petroleum product tankers saw prices rise 5%.
The SCA also increased fees for LNG carriers by 7% and for LPG vessels by 10%.
SCA officials justified this decision by citing “significant growth in global trade, the improvement of ships’ economics, the Suez Canal waterway development and the enhancement of the transit service”.
The March rise followed a 6% hike announced by the SCA in November.
Rebates cut
And in December, the authority moved to lower fixed rebates for container ships, bulk carriers and LPG vessels as well.
The role of the Suez Canal in facilitating world trade was highlighted by the six-day grounding of the 20,388-teu Ever Given (built 2018) in 2021, which blocked the waterway and caused widespread delays.
And earlier this month, a Belgian aframax was refloated following a grounding in the canal that disrupted traffic for a number of hours.
The 250-metre, 114,000-dwt Affinity V (built 2016) was bound for Saudi Arabia when it got stuck, close to the spot where Evergreen’s giant container ship was lodged.
