Point is that the Suez Canal Tariff for vessels transiting under tow and suspected scrap ships ( and that is in the S.C.Authorities' discretion to impose ) is extremely high.
It is about twice the "normal" tariff plus the enormeous charges for the tugs plus the S.C. oceangoing salvage tug imposed on top.
So, if your vessel arrives at Port Said roads for transit a) in ballast and b) a bit ageing the S.C. Authorities will board the vsl and perform a sea trial. Then they will either reject the vessel for transit or impose a number of tugs - in their discretion.
So your scrappy better be a) in a technically good condition and b) you have a (fake) timecharter on board by which master can prove that he's ballasting to say Jeddah for delivery to a local timecharterer. Such methods are quite "standard" coz we are talking about quite some money saving potential. Now, if the "Pride" is already marked as "for scrap" in Equasis and elsewhere such methods may fail and vsl going to Aliaga.
Prices per long ton ship's steel are presently about 100-150 tons higher in India than they are in Turkey.
