The Panama Canal welcomed the first transit of the LNG Sakura as it conducted the first-ever LNG shipment from the Dominion Cove Point terminal in the US to Japan.
The transit took place last weekend, and marks the beginning of a new LNG commercial route between the US and Asia from the recently inaugurated Dominion Cove Point terminal in Maryland, the second US LNG export terminal to come online after Sabine Pass began operations in 2016.
The LNG Sakura carries the first shipment of the 0.8 million tons of LNG contracted per year by the Japanese energy company Kansai Electric.
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The Bahamas-flagged LNG Sakura is a Neopanamax vessel, featuring 300 meters in length and 49 meters in beam. Its transit on Saturday, 28 of April, began in the Agua Clara locks on Panama’s Atlantic side and headed towards the Cocolí locks in the Pacific.
Kansai Electric Power is the majority share owner of the LNG Sakura (70%); NYK Line owns the remaining stake.
