Acp Advisory Board News

Members of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) Board of Directors and Administration returned to Panama after having traveled to Asia for the 24th joint meeting of its Advisory Board. The delegation met in Japan with the group of distinguished advisers to discuss Canal operations and performance, progress on the Expansion Program, training programs and future projects that will enhance the reliable service offered by the expanded Canal. The Board of Directors were encouraged by the discussions held and the Canal’s progress-to-date. Currently, all eight gates on the Atlantic side have been installed, and the Expansion Program is now 88 percent complete.

Wrapping up its fifteenth meeting in Panama, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) Board of Directors briefed the ACP Advisory Board on expansion progress. During the meeting, held in Panama February 11-12, Board members convened to discuss strategy and trends in the shipping industry. ACP Administrator/CEO Alberto Alemán Zubieta briefed the Advisory Board – composed of global business, maritime and trade experts – on issues regarding Canal operations and the waterway’s historic expansion project. The meeting was jointly presided over by Panamanian Minister for Canal Affairs and ACP Board of Directors Chairman Dani Ariel Kuzniecky and Advisory Board Chairman and former Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization William A. O’Neil.

The Panama Canal is nearing full capacity and should seriously consider expansion to continue to be a major player in world trade, according to maritime experts and Canal customers at the Panama Maritime VII Conference, held February 20-23. Participating in the event were Panamanian President Martin Torrijos, Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Efthimios Mitropoulos, and several representatives of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), including Administrator/CEO Alberto Alemán Zubieta. For the past two years, the ACP has commissioned research and studies related to the Canal’s modernization and the future of the maritime industry, including whether to expand the waterway. At this time, a final decision on whether to expand the Canal has not been made.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has appointed six new members to its Advisory Board adding it diversity with members from business, transportation, academia and maritime shipping. The Advisory Board was founded in 1999 at the time of the transfer of the Canal to Panamanian administration. The members of the Advisory Board provide strategic counsel to the ACP and the Board of Directors on various important issues that relate to the management and administration of the Canal including finances, insurance, operations and permanent modernization. The new members are: Admiral William J. Flanagan, Jr., Ret., U.S. Navy, Former Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet; Dr. Ernst Frankel, Professor Emeritus in Ocean Systems and Professor of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Dr.