The Panama Canal announced the closing of its 2019 fiscal year with a record tonnage of 469 million Panama Canal tons (PC/UMS), a 6.2% increase compared to FY2018. This exceeds the 450.7 million PC/UMS tons projection for 2019, as well as the record tonnage of 442 million PC/UMS tons registered in the previous fiscal year.
During FY2019, transits for the LNG and LPG segments rose by 37.6 and 6.9% respectively, representing the largest gain across all segments.
Additional segments with significant transit increases included crude product tankers with a 5.6% increase and vehicle carrier/RoRo with a 5.5% increase, compared to the previous fiscal year.
In terms of tonnage, the container segment continued to dominate with 164.87 million PC/UMS tons during FY2019, of which 126.2 million PC/UMS tons transited through the Neopanamax Locks.
Leading segments also included:
- bulk carriers at 76.5 million PC/UMS tons,
- vehicle carrier Ro/Ro at 53.1 million PC/UMS tons,
- chemical tankers at 44.3 million PC/UMS tons,
- LNG vessels at 43 million PC/UMS tons,
- LPG vessels at 37.8 million PC/UMS tons,
- crude product tankers at 22.6 million PC/UMS tons and
- passenger vessels at 9.9 million PC/UMS tons.
The main routes using the Panama Canal by cargo tonnage in FY19 include between the US East Coast and Asia, followed by the US East Coast and the West Coast of South America, Europe and the West Coast of South America, the US East Coast and the West Coast of Central America, and the US intercoastal route.
The main users of the waterway during FY19 were the United States, China, Japan, Chile and Mexico.
Last week, the Panama Canal announced its first transit for the 2019-2020 cruise season, marked by the Princess Cruises’ Island Princess.
The Island Princess departed from Vancouver, Canada and is heading to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in a 21-day voyage.
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