Tag: Panama Canal

To increase tolls by up to 15% Plans to increase toll charges for the Panama Canal are 'rushed, excessive and likely to cause further problems for shipping companies' given the fragile state of economic recovery, say shipowners.The International Chamber of Shipping has sent a strongly worded letter to the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) describing plans to increase tolls by up to 15% as 'simply unacceptable'.ICS calls for the plans to be withdrawn and for future increases to be given with at least six months' notice to enable shipping companies to plan properly and fully assess the impact of the proposed changes.The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) is the principal international trade association for shipowners, with member national associations from 36 countries representing all sectors and trades and over 80% of the world merchant fleet.The ACP published plans to increase its tolls last month, despite assuring industry clients in January there would only be one small adjustment to tolls before completion of the expansion project in 2014. Toll increases could come into effect as early as 1 July if agreed at a public hearing at the end of this month.ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe, said there was 'no pressing need' for ...

LA and Long Beach launch programme of improvements to protect their gateway role The expansion of the Panama Canal is raising alarms in Southern California, where business, labour and public officials are warning that the project threatens to dent the region's role in international trade.The $5.25 billion project will make the canal wider and deeper, allowing bigger containerships from Asia to bypass west coast ports and head straight to terminals on the Gulf Coast and east coast.The neighbouring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which together handle about 40% of the nation's imported Asian goods, could lose as much as a quarter of their cargo business, by some estimates, after the canal expansion is completed in 2014.The ports have launched improvement projects aimed at keeping them competitive. One would speed the loading of cargo on to trains; others eliminate bottlenecks or increase capacity so that the ports remain attractive to importers.However a coalition of business, labour and government contends that these efforts are being jeopardised by opposition from residents, environmental groups and others.Two members of the Long Beach City Council, for example, sought to block the construction of a new rail freight complex near the ports, saying it would ...

In order to verify compliance with ACP Vessel Requirements The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) reminds all customers that vessels transiting the Panama Canal for the first time must submit drawings and certificates in advance, in order to verify compliance with ACP Vessel Requirements.These vessels must present the following documents:Copy of the International Tonnage Certificate (1969) and/or PC/UMS Documentation of Total VolumeBreakdown of the total volume (calculations sheets)Ship ParticularsPilot CardInternational Load Line CertificateSuez Tonnage Certificate (if available)Classification Certificate.Vessels must also present the following plans and documents:General Arrangement PlanCapacity Plan with deadweight scaleLines Plan (or offset table, if Lines plan not available)Midship Section Plan (or Shell Expansion and bilge radius information, if Midship Plan not available)Cargo Securing Manual (if vessel is designed to carry containers, the containers section shall be provided)Visibility Plan (diagram)Container stowage Plan (if applicable)Advance copies of plans/drawings and certificates may be forwarded in AutoCAD format or PDF files (preferably original files from the shipyard) to [email protected] vessels transiting the Panama Canal for the first time that do not have plans available in PDF format, the current procedure for delivering the plans and other documents remains valid. For more information, please refer to Paragraph 2.1(7) of OP Notice to Shipping ...

Congress must accelerate funding for improvements as Panama Canal expansion nears completion The expansion of the Panama Canal is expected to significantly increase vessel numbers and sizes calling at US east coast ports, but Paul Anderson, CEO of Florida's Jacksonville Port Authority (Jaxport), has warned that ports are not ready.US ports will not be able to accommodate all the ships wanting to call on the east coast - small, medium and post-panamax, Anderson told the US Maritime Administration.He believes the primary issue is gridlock in Congress, which is delaying investments to improve US seaport infrastructure.If the necessary port upgrades don't happen, Anderson said, transhipment from off-shore locations such as the Bahamas will threaten US port business, add costs to US imports and slow down transit times.Anderson told IFW that Jaxport was waiting on federal funding of up to $600 million to continue a dredging project, and the delay was limiting productivity of the port's new TraPac Container Terminal, its first to win a direct service to Asia.Nancy Rubin, Director of Communications for Jaxport, said: "TraPac is operating just under 100,000 containers a year. After the Panama Canal expansion, we should be seeing at least triple that by 2015.""And operating at ...

Cooperation between the ACP and the SCPA The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA), which owns and operates the Port of Charleston, renewed their ties today with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).First signed in July 2003, the MOU, which is renewable for an additional three years, reinforces both entities' commitment to growth and best practices that benefit customers, Panama and South Carolina.Areas of cooperation between the ACP and the SCPA include information-sharing, joint marketing efforts, exchange of data, capital improvement plans, training and technology. This partnership also will continue to promote the "All-Water Route," the route from Asia to the U.S. East Coast via the Panama Canal.Moreover, as the expansion of the waterway - with its expected 2014 completion - directs deeper, wider ships to the U.S. East Coast, the Port of Charleston is in a unique position to benefit. Charleston currently has the deepest harbor in the region and is already handling large ships with a capacity greater than 8,000 TEUs with drafts of up to 48 feet.To accommodate that expected growth, the Port of Charleston is investing heavily in its facilities with a 10-year, $1.3 billion capital plan. Included in ...

From 11 July through 15 July The Panama Canal Authority has issued an Advisory stating that it will hold its annual Safe Boarding Week from 11 July through 15 July.Activities will include inspections of boarding facilities by various stakeholders. Vessels are encouraged to prepare for these inspections through use of the Safe Boarding ChecklistThe Panama Canal Authority (ACP) considers proper boarding facilities to be an absolute necessity to ensure the safety of their personnel, as well as others using these facilities in Canal waters.In order to promote awareness and compliance with Canal requirements, the ACP will hold its Annual Safe Boarding Week from 11 15 July 2011. During this period, the ACP will emphasize and encourage safe boarding practices on all vessels arriving at the waterway.Safe Boarding Week activities will involve inspections of boarding facilities by teams representing groups who normally board vessels, such as Canal Port Captains, Pilots, Transit Vessel Inspectors, Chemists and Emergency Response personnel, Admeasurers, Deckhands as well as ships agents.The ACP will continue promoting preventive measures to be taken in order to avoid the tripping hazard created by the retrieving line attached to the pilot ladder as well as the excess portion of the pilot ladders, ...

Panama Canal expansion to benefit The new deeper, wider Panama Canal will make little difference to the flow of world coal trade from exporters in the Americas to big Asian clients.Even when the work is finished in 2014 it is likely to still be as cheap to take ships around the Cape of Good Hope, as rates are expected to stay depressed, and the improvements to the Canal will still not be enough to let the biggest coal ships through.Coal traders had expected the canal expansion to boost coal traffic from Colombia to Asia using smaller panamax vessels.But exporters are likely to cut costs by going around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope using larger 180,000 deadweight tonne (dwt) capesize vessels, used mostly for iron ore and coal."The canal expansion is largely irrelevant to the flow of coal to Asia especially while capesize freight rates remain so low," said one of Colombia's biggest coal exporters on condition of anonymity."Currently and for the foreseeable future, it makes sense to be shipping from Colombia to China in capes and going around Cape Horn."The expanded canal will also be geared towards containerised shipping -- transporting consumer goods, manufacturing components -- rather than for ...