Egypt’s cabinet has approved to keep ports open for business 24 hours a day, rather than the normal 16 hours in order to cut down on “long waiting times,” Minister of Transportation Hisham Arafat told Reuters.

It is not clear when the decision will come into effect or how long it would take place.

Arafat said that the extended hours will not come at any additional cost to traders.

Under the current system, traders have usually paid high demurrage fees, extra fees when the shipper fail to upload their ships within the port’s regular opening hours, due to the burdensome inspection process and congestion at Egyptian ports.

Some traders have added hefty risk premiums of up to USD 500,000 on shipments, pushing GASC, Egypt’s state grain buyer, to set new tender terms in February to cap demurrage fees.

The decision will not resolve the ongoing shortage in storage space at Egypt’s crowded ports.

“Some of the storage areas inside the port do not have enough space to discharge the whole quantities,” Arafat said.