Tag: Panama Canal Expansion

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. To date, the Canal has transited 3,745 Neopanamax vessels, traffic that confirms the maritime industry's confidence in the Expanded Canal.

For the third time since the inauguration of the Expanded Canal, the Panama Canal set a new monthly tonnage record of 38.1 million tons after enabling the transit of 1,231 vessels in May 2018. The previous record was set in January 2017, when 1,260 vessels transited 36.1 million tons through the waterway.

The Panama Canal welcomed the 'Norwegian Bliss', the largest passenger vessel to ever transit the waterway, on 14 May, which was made possible by the Canal Expansion inaugurated two years ago. Operated by Norwegian Cruise Lines, the ship weighs more than 168,000 gross tons and can carry nearly 5,000 passengers. 

In a bid to embrace the additional capacity enabled by the new larger locks, the Panama Canal has added an additional reserve space for Neopanamax vessels, bringing the total number of available spaces per day from seven to eight.

The Panama Canal Authority announced the increase of the maximum allowable beam for commercial and non-commercial vessels passing through the Neopanamax Locks. Starting from 27 April 2018, the maximum authorized draft is 14.63m (48.0 feet) Tropical Fresh Water, based on levels of Gatun Lake.

Starting from December 1st, the Panama Canal has increased the number of daily booking slots available for Neopanamax vessels from six to seven, in a bid to embrace the additional capacity allowed for by the new, larger locks. The seven daily booking slots are offered in addition to the 23 slots available each day for transit through the Panamax locks.

The Panama Canal Authority announced the inauguration of the Emissions Calculator in late October, with the aim to incentivize further the maritime industry to cut emissions. Mr. Alexis Rodriguez, Panama Canal’s Environmental Protection Specialist discusses the new offering at length highlighting that it will help the Panama Canal become a “Carbon Neutral” entity.

Closing its 2017 fiscal year on 30 September, the Panama Canal announced that the waterway welcomed a record 403.8 million Panama Canal tons of cargo in this period, the largest amount of annual tonnage ever transited in its 103-year history.

The Panama Canal has welcomed the 2,000th Neopanamax vessel transit through its expanded locks, just 15 months after their inauguration, the Panama Canal Authority informed. The 9,504 TEU boxship 'COSCO Yantian', measures 351 meters in length and 43 meters in width.