Panama Canal News

The government of Panama gave a US$1.4 billion contract to build a bridge over the Panama Canal to Panama Cuarto Puente, a Chinese consortium.Panama Cuarto Puente consortium or so-called Panama Fourth Bridge Consortium,  composed of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) and its unit China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), will design and build a bridge over the Panama Canal.According to a report in Reuters, the 6.5-km (4-mile) bridge will have six car lanes and a two-way metro line.

The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) warns that a major accident on the Panama Canal could be imminent, highlighting the serious health and safety concerns related to the fatigue of tugboat captains.The new report  takes the Panama Canal Authority (PCA) to task with tiredness, rather than the protocols in place for the physical transfer of vessels as was the case previously.Fatigue of Panama Canal tugboat poses a major threat to safety in the operation of the canal’s Neopanamax locks…

Maritime Reporter & Engineering News was offered the opportunity to interview Admiral Karl Schultz, the 26th Commandant in the history of the United States Coast Guard, in his office in Washington, DC. Just five months into his tenure, his plate is predictably full with a number of challenges, including: Attracting and retaining future U.S. Coast Guard personnel; addressing a number of assymetric threats, including cyber attacks; and ensuring captial and operating budgets are adequate to safely and efficiently carry out a global mission envelope, to name but a few.

The Christian welfare charity serving merchant crews around the world 'The Mission to Seafarers' has signed an agreement with the Panama Maritime Authority for the provision of seafarer welfare services, making us the first seafarer charity to operate in Panama.A press release from the international seafarer welfare charity said that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Mission and Panama was signed yesterday by the Revd Canon Andrew Wright, Secretary General of The Mission to Seafarers…

The world's most eco-friendly bulk carrier m/s Viikki, owned by ESL Shipping, a subsidiary of the Aspo Plc, has started operating on the Baltic Sea.The 25,600-dwt vessel, 160 metres long and fuelled by liquefied natural gas, produces less than half of the carbon dioxide of previous vessel generation, thanks to LNG and many advanced technologies.M/s Viikki was built in China, and after completion first sailed to Japan to load a cargo of raw materials. From there, she arrived to the Baltic Sea through the Northeast Passage…

Matson, Inc. took delivery of the first of two new Aloha Class containerships built for Matson's Hawaii service at Philly Shipyard.Christened 'Daniel K. Inouye' in honor of Hawaii's late senior U.S. Senator, the vessel is the largest containership ever built in the United States. Weighing in at over 51,400 metric tons, the 850-foot long and 3,600 TEU capacity Daniel K. Inouye is Matson's largest ship and also its fastest, with a top speed in excess of 23 knots."This new ship, our fifth delivered by Philly Shipyard…

Jim Newsome, president and CEO, highlights cooperation and collaboration.South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) president and CEO, Jim Newsome, presented the annual State of the Port to an audience of approximately 600 customers, elected officials and shipping industry representatives at the Charleston Area Convention Center. Jim’s presentation focused on the Port’s successes, strategic infrastructure investments to support continued container volume growth, new initiatives to increase Port productivity and overall industry trends that will impact the Port in the future.

HullWiper is meeting growing demand for affordable and eco-friendly hull cleaning in the Panama Canal in partnership with the provider of subsea services Talleres Industriales, said a statement from the marine fouling remover company.It is the latest agreement signed under HullWiper’s global leasing programme introduced in 2017, which works with partners around the world to offer ship owners and operators a cost-efficient, brush- and diver-free alternative to traditional hull…

Extensions, type approvals and next steps were all prominent on the agenda.September’s Ballast Water Management and Technology North America conference saw USCG staff from the Office of Operating and Environmental Standards and the Marine Safety Center giving conference attendees an update on various aspects of the Coast Guard’s ballast water program. Following is a recap of those presentations for our readers who were unable to attend:Ms. Regina Bergner and Mr. Matthew Reudelhuber with the Office of Operating and Environmental Standards, and Lt.

The Panama Canal closed its 2018 fiscal year with a record tonnage of 442.1 million Panama Canal tons (PC/UMS), which represents a 9.5 percent increase from the previous year, the Panama Canal Authority reports.With this tonnage, the Panama Canal surpasses the cargo projections of 429.4 million PC/UMS tons for FY 2018, as well as the 403.8 million PC/UMS tons registered in FY 2017."The Panama Canal continues to exceed our expectations, reinforcing every day the importance of the waterway's expansion and its impact on global maritime trade," said Panama Canal Administrator Jorge L. Quijano.

The Panama Canal announced that it expects to receive approximately 234 cruise ships through the Panamax and Neopanamax Locks during the upcoming 2018-2019 cruise season.The first transit was on Oct. 5 with the Seven Seas Mariner, on a northbound transit travelling from the U.S. West Coast to the U.S. East Coast."As the second full cruise season with the Expanded Canal, we aim to build off our recent milestones and success," said Panama Canal's Senior International Trade Specialist Albano G. Aguilar.

The transit of four liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers through the Panama Canal’s Neopanamax Locks in a single day marks a new milestone for the canal and reinforces its capacity to handle growing demand from the U.S., where several new LNG export terminals are scheduled to begin operating.On Monday, the vessels Ribera del Duero Knutsen with a cargo capacity of 173,000 m3 and Maran Gas Pericles with cargo capacity of 174,000 m3 transited northbound, while Torben Spirit with a cargo capacity of 174…

My Friend the Sea is a story about growing up at sea, set against the background of ships and the beauty of the oceans. It's a tale of ambition, adversity and dealing with prejudice. Packed full of adventures and stories of traveling the world on ships, visiting far off lands, and meeting all manner of people, including eccentric distant relatives in Australia, a drunken captain, another who was a tyrant, and natives in Fiji, plus shipboard romances, a mutiny, and a growing need for the author to change the way he lives.I am a doctor…

The price of shipping liquefied natural gas (LNG) has spiked in September and is likely to remain high next year, buoyed by rising production from new plants and concerns that demand for LNG vessels will outpace supply.The rate for vessels shipping LNG from the Atlantic Basin to Asia has jumped to $90,000 to $95,000 a day this week from $75,000 a day at the end of August, brokers and traders said.Rates, which broadly hovered around $30,000 to $40,000 a day from 2015 to 2017, have risen due to longer distances covered to transport LNG from new terminals in the United States and Arctic Russia…

A product tanker operated by the NYK Group rescued 28 fishermen from life rafts on last week off the coast of Colombia.The Challenge Pollux was sailing from the Panama Canal to Houston on September 14 when it received a call from a U.S.-based Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) requesting assistance with the rescue of 28 crew members who had evacuated from a sinking fishing boat.The rescued seafarers were given water, food, clothing and first-aid on board the Challenge Pollux before being transferred to a Colombian Coast Guard vessel.Challenge PolluxCaptain: Birender SinghFlag: Singapor

The U.S. Coast Guard’s Navigation Center (NAVCEN) is involved in a number of activities that have an impact on all Americans, even if they don’t realize it.From motorists checking directions with their Global Positioning System (GPS) to boaters to ships coming and going to U.S. ports, the NAVCEN plays an unseen but vital role.With a staff of19 officers, 17 enlisted personnel and 19 civilians, NAVCEN falls under the Director of Marine Transportation Systems (CG-5PW) at USCG Headquarters…

Innovative waterway concept vessel could deliver transportation savings for shippers on the Mississippi River. Plans to transport freight via innovative waterway vessels that backers say will revolutionize the inland waterway system and provide significant transportation cost savings for shippers, especially those accessing the Midwest by utilizing the Mississippi River and its tributaries, are underway, according to Sal Litrico, CEO for American Patriot Container Transport, a…

Finland’s ESL Shipping, an Aspo Group company, has taken delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled bulker Viikki from the Jinling shipyard in Nanjing, China.Viikki's sister ship Haaga was delivered on August 20. The 160-meter, LNG-fueled vessel of 25,600 dwt emits over 50 percent less carbon dioxide than the previous generation of vessels.Like its sister ship Haaga, Viikki will first head from the shipyard to Japan, from where it will arrive fully laden at the Baltic Sea approximately at the end of October.

The Panama Canal will implement, from October 1, changes in the transit reservation system for the new neopanamax locks, which includes a restructuring of payment fees for the natural gas segment liquefied (LNG), in order to optimize the use of the interoceanic route.A press release from Panama Canal Administration (ACP) said that the modifications "are a positive step for the neopanamax locks", and take into account the lifting of certain rules of navigation to LNG ships, as well as the comments of customers.In order to maximize the benefits of these new navigation rules…

Robert “Bob” Shrewsbury, founder of Seattle-based tug and barge services provider Western Towboat, has passed away at the age of 94.Shrewsbury started Western Towboat along Ballard’s waterfront in 1948, operating with just one small tug the, ND Tobey, and working in the early days as business agent, captain and engineer.Today, the family owned company is run by Shrewsbury’s son, Bob Jr., with grandchildren Russell, Ross and Kristin, and has grown its fleet to 22 tugs and seven barges.

The Mississippi River Ship Channel could be the first port complex on the Gulf Coast to reach a depth of 50 feet now that the Director’s Report has been signed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Elected officials and industry leaders have long worked to increase the channel’s depth to 50 feet, which is the same depth of the expanded Panama Canal.In signing the Report, Corps of Engineers Director of Civil Works James C. Dalton stated the project is “economically justified and…

The Panama Canal registered the transit of its 4,000th Neopanamax vessel through the Expanded Canal, underscoring the steady growth of the burgeoning liquefied natural gas (LNG) segment – which began transiting the waterway for the first time following the inauguration of the Expanded Canal.The LNG tanker Maria Energy completed the milestone transit traveling southbound from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean on July 29."The steady increase in Neopanamax transits reflect our customers’ confidence in the Expanded Canal…

Norwegian Cruise Line’s first ship custom-designed specifically for the Chinese cruise market will be repositioned to sail from the United States starting in 2019.The nearly 4,000 passenger cruise ship Norwegian Joy is slated to sail seasonally from Seattle to Alaska in summer 2019 before making voyages to the Mexican Riviera and Panama Canal from Los Angeles in winter 2019/2020.Built by German shipbuilder Meyer Werft in 2017, the 1,094-foot-long, 167,725 gt Norwegian Joy was designed with finishes and amenities tailored specifically to the tastes of Chinese guests.