Egypt cuts fees for ships arriving at East Port Said

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt will reduce the tariffs on container ships and ferries coming from foreign ports to East Port Said for a period of one year, the Suez Canal Authority said in a statement on Thursday.

A 30 percent discount on port, docking and guiding fees will apply for vessels carrying less than 80,000 tonnes while those carrying more than that will receive a 40 percent discount, the statement said.

Vessels carrying more than 50 containers will be eligible for a discount of up to 60 percent, but both rates cannot be applied at the same time, it said.

The Suez Canal is the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia and one of the Egyptian government’s main sources of foreign currency.

Reporting by Yousef Saba; Editing by David Goodman.