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Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) has established a dedicated local transit team to help customers negotiate not just the Suez Canal, but also the complex rebate system designed to boost traffic through the recently expanded waterway. The new office, based in Alexandria, is staffed round-the-clock by local agents who are well acquainted with the workings of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).
The canal expansion opened in August last year, cutting vessel waiting time from 11 to 3 hours and potentially doubling the number of daily transits. In an effort to incentivise shippers to choose its route over alternatives, SCA has created a rebate system capable of greatly reducing vessel toll fees, if all application criteria are satisfied.
“This is a great scheme, with huge potential benefits,” comments Steffen Langlette, product manager, ships agency, WSS, “but it can be complex, time-consuming and confusing to understand. SCA has strict deadlines with regard to submitting applications and the confirmation of rebates, while the documentation required is extensive. If shippers forget to apply at the right time, or fail to submit the correct papers, their rebates may not be forthcoming and, in an era of tight margins and pressure on costs, this can be a heavy price to pay.”
By setting up the new team, WSS aims to allow shipping companies to focus on what’s important to them – getting cargoes from A to B in the quickest, safest and most efficient manner – while it takes care of all the paperwork, interaction with authorities, and transactions. Mr. Langlette adds, “It’s a service that meets a genuine market need and will greatly assist all our customers passing through this fundamentally important trading channel.”
