Marine Link
Thursday, March 28, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Mireya Moscoso News

17 Dec 2003

MOL Establishes New Panama Vessel Operation Center

MOL hosted a party to celebrate the grand opening of its new Panama Vessel Operation Center in Panama City, Panama on December 9, 2003. Some of the guests in attendance included: Mr. Joaquin Jacome, Minister of Commerce; Mr. Jerry Salazar, Minister of Canal Affairs; and Mr. Shuji Shimokoji, Ambassador of Japan. Considering Panama to be one of the world’s key maritime centers, the company established MOL (Panama) Inc. in May 2003, which is responsible for handling all commercial activities for MOL’s liner division in Panama. The responsibilities of MOL (Panama) Inc. were increased last month when it was named a regional office in charge of managing the activities of MOL’s Caribbean and Central America shipping agents.

19 Aug 2002

Panama Canal Authority Opens Simulator Center

In commemoration of the Panama Canal’s 88th Anniversary on August 15th, Panama President Mireya Moscoso inaugurated a modern Simulator Center with three state-of-the-art simulators that will be used for training Canal maritime personnel. President Moscoso was joined by Canal Administrator Alberto Alemán Zubieta, members of the Cabinet Council members, local and international guests of the maritime sector, and Panama Canal Authority (ACP) officials. The new Center includes the latest technological advances in maritime training and is valued at $1.8 million. The equipment for the center includes a 360- degree visual simulator; a 150-degree simulator and a third auxiliary tugboat simulator that reproduces the systems installed in the floating units of the Transit Resources Division.

12 Dec 2002

Panama Canal Authority Acquires New Tugs

Panama President Mireya Moscoso welcomed two new tugboats to the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) fleet, both purchased at a cost of $10,768,794. The new units, named Herrera and Los Santos, are made of state-of-the-art technology, and include emergency response equipment and improved operational facilities. Canal Administrator Alberto Aleman Zubieta stated: “ The addition of two tugboats, Herrera and Los Santos, are part of the Canal’s permanent modernization program geared towards providing our customers with the best service for their transit through the Canal. High- quality customer service is our first priority and these new tugboats are another example of this commitment.

18 Nov 2002

President Of Panama To Christen New Coral

Mireya Moscoso, president of the Republic of Panama, will christen Princess Cruises’ newest ship, Coral Princess, in a historic ceremony in the Panama Canal. The first cruise ship christening ever in the Canal, this unique “lockside” naming will take place as Coral Princess transits the Canal’s Gatun Locks on January 17, 2003. The ship will be in the Canal as part of it regular cruise itinerary, on a sailing that departs from Ft. Lauderdale on January 13. “In our 32 years of Panama Canal cruising, we’ve established a strong and beneficial relationship with Panama, so we feel President Moscoso is the perfect person to christen this ship, which was built specifically for Canal transits,” said Phil Kleweno, president of Princess Cruises.

06 Feb 2003

Salazar Appointed as Chairman of the Board for Panama Canal Authority

President Mireya Moscoso of Panama made a final appointment for the post of Minister of State for Canal Affairs. Jerry Salazar, former director of the Panama Maritime Authority, has been appointed to the said position. Since the Canal Minister chairs the ACP board, Salazar will assume the Chairmanship of the Panama Canal Board of Directors. Salazar replaces Ricardo Martinelli, who resigned as Canal Affairs Minister in January. Salazar brings experience in developing and executing maritime policy. In 1989, he was appointed Director of the National Ports Authority, which eventually became the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP). As director of the AMP…

14 Mar 2003

Sean Connery Checks out Panama Canal

Actor Sean "007" Connery visited the historic Panama Canal and check out one of its locks, the Miraflores Locks. Connery took a look at Panama Canal operations during his recent visit to Miraflores Locks. Canal Administrator Alberto Alemán Zubieta explained how ships passing through the Canal are guided into the locks by powerful locomotives (background). Connery was invited to Panama by President Mireya Moscoso to discuss issues related to social development and cultural projects. In his native Scotland, Connery supports educational and cultural organizations, including the Scottish International Educational Trust and Friends of Scotland.

28 Apr 2003

MOL Establishes Shipping Agency in Panama

MOL (America) Inc. will establish a new shipping agency in Panama to handle all commercial activities for MOL’s container division, effective May 1, 2003. The new company will be named MOL (Panama) Inc. Additionally, Boyd Steamship Corporation will handle Canal transits for MOL’s container division, allowing the two companies to Julio De La Lastra has been named President and Chief Operating Officer of MOL (Panama). He brings 24 years of maritime industry experience to his new position. Prior to joining MOL, Mr. De La Lastra served as Vice President of Liner Operations for Boyd Steamship Corp. In February 2002, the President of Panama, Mireya Moscoso, presented MOL the Panama Maritime Excellence Award.

10 Dec 1999

Panama Ready To Step Out On Its Own

As heads of state gather in Panama for Dec. 14 ceremonies in advance of the transfer of the Panama Canal on the Dec. 31, the small Caribbean nation of 2.8 million prepares to step out of Washington's shadow. Since the U.S.S. Nashville guaranteed Panama's independence from Colombia in 1903, the U.S. has maintained a military garrison in Panama and kept administrative control of the canal it built across the isthmus. For decades, Panamanian nationalists rallied to the cry of "one flag, one territory," calling the 10-mile (16 km)-wide U.S.-controlled Canal Zone a "stake through the nation's heart." But when that stake finally comes out at noon on Dec. 31 and the 50-mile (82 km) waterway passes to Panama's control, it will wake up to the challenge of full nationhood.

03 Sep 1999

First Woman Takes Panamanian Presidency

Panama's first woman president was due to take power last Wednesday, four months before the tiny nation takes control of one of the world's most important waterways, the Panama Canal. Mireya Moscoso, the 53-year-old widow of three-time Panamanian President Arnulfo Arias, won the May elections with 45 percent of the vote, throwing her predecessor, Ernesto Perez Balladares, out of power and pledging to fight poverty and unemployment in the country of 2.7 million people. Moscoso, a teacher's daughter from the agricultural heartland, has never held elective office. But since her husband's death in 1988, she assumed increasing prominence in the Arnulfista party named for her late husband.

22 Oct 1999

Panama, U.S. Try To Smooth Frictions

President Bill Clinton and Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso tried to smooth over frictions last week over the handing back of the Panama Canal and vowed a "new beginning" in U.S.-Panamanian relations. Discord in recent months has cast a shadow over the Dec. 31 transfer of the canal to Panama's control to end a 96-year military presence in the Central American country. "I emphasized that the military relationship ends on Dec. 31," Moscoso told reporters after a 45-minute meeting with Clinton. Moscoso met for 45 minutes with Clinton to stress that Panama will provide adequate security for the strategic canal after the U.S. gives up control of it on Dec. 31. "Our country is prepared to guarantee the efficient operation of the canal.

07 Dec 1999

Transition In History: A Look At The Panama Canal

Dubbed "The Greatest Engineering Wonder of the World," the Panama Canal has experienced a whirlwind run since President Woodrow Wilson flicked a switch of the first gushes of water to flow through the 51-mile body of water that is arguably the most important shipping channel in world. It was 1914 and it was as though Central America and Europe — situated at opposite sides of the Atlantic — were worlds apart. For it was in the Central American country of Panama where workers from many nations joined forces to build the massive Panama Canal, while hostilities in Europe were quickly leading to WWI. Together, these workers, who came from all walks of life and all different backgrounds - all shared one dream - to be part of a piece of history that to this day…

17 Dec 1999

Carter To Panama: 'It's Yours'

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter symbolically placed the Panama Canal into Panamanian hands last Tuesday with the simple words, "it's yours," granting the tiny Central American nation sovereignty over all its territory for the first time since its birth in 1903. "Today we are gathered in the spirit of mutual respect, acknowledging without question the full sovereignty of Panama," Carter told hundreds of Panamanian and foreign dignitaries gathered under a light rain at the Miraflores Locks at the Canal's Pacific entrance. In what Carter and Panama President Mireya Moscoso called a pivotal moment in the history of the hemisphere, the two leaders signed a symbolic accord marking the Canal's passage to Panama. Under the 1977 Panama Canal Treaties brokered by Carter, the U.S.