The Panama Canal issued a short film informing on how Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) vessels have found a new shortcut through the Expanded canal, representing around 9% of transits through the new locks.
LNG vessels have one guaranteed reservation slot everyday for transits through the Expanded Panama Canal. This vessels have an average Canal water time which includes waiting and transit times of 20.5 hours.
As noted, LNG vessels transit under strict safety standards following the industry international guidelines.
The expansion was inaugurated last year, and the first LNG carrier to transit the new Canal was the Shell-chartered Maran Gas Apollonia, in July 2016.
Recently, the Panama Canal Authority issued another video informing about LNG vessels transits since the canal expansion, noting that LNG consists a new market segment for the area.