Less than three years after its opening, the Panama Canal announced a new milestone with the transit of the 6,000th Neopanamax ship, reaffirming its position in global maritime trade.
The LNG carrier ‘Energy Liberty’ made its transit Tuesday south from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
The 2018-built ship measures 300 meters in length and 49 meters in width and has the capacity to transport up to 165,000 cubic meters of LNG.
The vessel is on its route to transport LNG from the Cove Point terminal in Maryland, US, to Japan.
This is the sixth transit of Energy Liberty by the Panama Canal since its inauguration.
Of the 6,000 Neopanamax vessels that have transited to date, more than 50% have been in the container ship segment; followed by 26% of LPG; and another 11% of LNG.
Other vessels that have used the Neopanamax locks are dry and liquid bulk carriers, vehicle carriers and passengers.
On 22 March 2019, the expanded Panama Canal completed 1.000 days of operation.
From the first days of its operations in 2016, the waterway saw an increase in cargo tonnage, as a result of the transfer of new segments and new line services that have been redirected by the route through Panama.
