The Panama Canal is set to provide additional transit opportunities, by lifting self-imposed daylight and encounter restrictions for LNG vessels, starting from 1 October 2018, the deputy administrator Manuel Benitez announced on the sidelines of a conference in Washington, on 28 June.
Lifting the daylight restrictions means that LNG vessels will be able to transit the locks also at night, which is the case for most of the other types of vessels.
And lifting encounter restrictions means that LNG vessels will be able to navigate Gatun Lake at the same time, allowing two different LNG vessels to transit the canal the same day in two different directions, Mr. Benitez explained.
Together, these changes will provide more flexibility and time during the day to transit LNG vessels, and result in an opportunity for LNG shippers to compete for a second booking slot.
With these restrictions in place, the Panama Canal currently provides one dedicated reservation slot to LNG carriers per day, which is equal to seven dedicated LNG booking slots per week. This is more than the current demand from LNG shippers, who average 5.5 transits per week.
On 26 June, the Panama Canal marked the two-year anniversary of the inauguration of its Expansion, the largest enhancement project in the waterway’s 103-year history. The waterway has welcomed a total of 372 LNG transits in these two last years.
