The Panama Canal registered the transit of its 4,000th Neopanamax vessel through the Expanded Canal. The LNG tanker ‘Maria Energy’ completed the transit on 29 July, traveling southbound from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, underscoring the steady growth of the LNG segment.
The Maria Energy was followed by another LNG tanker, the Maran Gas Alexandria, which also transited the Neopanamax Locks in the southbound direction on Sunday. Both vessels were loaded in Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass LNG export facility in Louisiana, US.
Today, the waterway regularly transits two LNG vessels the same direction in the same day, and has demonstrated the ability to transit up to three vessels the same day in the same direction during periods of uncharacteristically high demand.
In June, the Panama Canal announced that it will be lifting natural daylight restrictions for LNG transits from 1 October 2018, to offer added capacity to shippers. By lifting encounter restrictions, LNG vessels will also 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, offering more flexibility to the segment.
Of the 4,000 vessels that have transited to date, roughly 52% have been from the container segment. LPG vessels constitute another 27%, and LNG carriers, a relatively new segment to the Panama Canal, have been responsible for 10% of traffic. Dry and liquid bulk carriers, car carriers and cruise ships make up the remaining transits.
Other notable transits thus far include the MSC Anzu, which became the 1,000th transit on 19 March 2017, the COSCO Yantian which registered the 2,000th transit on 26 September 2017, and the MSC Caterina which registered the 3,000th transit on 2 March 2018.