Suez maintains same shipping tariffs

The Suez Canal Authority says it will not increase shipping transit fees in 1998, maintaining the same rate for the second consecutive year.

Speaking at a news conference in Ismailiya the authority's president Ahmed Ali Fadel said they would offer discounts to certain categories of shipping.

Correspondents say oil tanker traffic along the canal has faced growing competition from oil pipelines, while large tankers and freighters often use the sea route around the Cape of Good Hope .

The Suez Canal is Egypt's third largest source of foreign currency

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service