Panama Canal News

The Panama Canal announced that it has added an additional reservation slot to its Neopanamax locks, effective from Monday (May 07), bringing the total available booking slots to eight daily. The decision to offer additional capacity to shippers was made as a part of the Canal's routine careful planning and analysis to meet the increased demand at the interoceanic route, inaugurated nearly two years ago. Since then, the global maritime community has increasingly taken advantage of the time and cost savings afforded by the Expanded Canal.

Cuba's new Mariel deepwater container terminal hopes to further its plan to become a regional shipping hub by completing dredging next year so it can receive mega-sized vessels, its general manager Charles Baker said on Thursday.The terminal in Mariel Bay, 45 kilometers (28 miles) west of Havana, is located in an industrial park where Cuba is seeking to attract foreign investors with tax and customs breaks, as part of its market reform plan to boost the anemic economy.After opening in 2014…

China has pledged to buy more U.S. goods to reduce America's huge trade deficit and help avoid exacerbating a trade war between the world's two biggest economies, with energy and commodities high on Washington's list of products for sale.The U.S. trade war with China is "on hold" after the governments agreed to drop tariff threats and work on a wider agreement, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday. Washington is especially keen to sell more of the United States'…

Japan received its first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) on Monday from Dominion Energy Inc's newly completed Cove Point export plant, the beginning of a jump in imports from the United States by the world's biggest buyer of the fuel.The docking of the tanker LNG Sakura at Tokyo Gas Co's Negishi terminal near Tokyo is another marker of shifting global energy flows as the United States ramps up exports of gas and oil from shale formations.The cargo is the first of 2.2 million tonnes of LNG a year Japanese companies are purchasing under long-term contracts from Cove Point in Maryland.

Two years after the inauguration of the Expanded Panama Canal, Standard & Poor's (S&P) Global Ratings revised its outlook on the Panama Canal from ‘stable’ to ‘positive’ – demonstrating the global impact of the historic waterway. The rating agency also affirmed its 'A-' rating for the Panama Canal, ranking the ACP two notches above that of the sovereign foreign currency rating. The Panama Canal's outlook indicates the rating agency's expectation that it will generate relatively stable annual earnings before interest…

The Panama Canal welcomed the Norwegian Cruise Lines-operated Norwegian Bliss, the largest passenger vessel which to ever transit the waterway. "The Panama Canal is proud to welcome the Norwegian Bliss and recognizes that this distinct milestone is made possible by the Canal Expansion, as well as the experience and efforts gained in the two years since its inauguration," said Deputy Canal Administrator Manuel Benítez. The Norwegian Bliss left Germany's Meyer Werft shipyard in March to begin a 15-day itinerary this month…

Yesterday, for the third time since the inauguration of the Expanded Canal, the Panama Canal set a new monthly tonnage record of 38.1 million tons (PC/UMS) after facilitating the transit of 1,231 vessels in May 2018.The previous record was established in January 2017, when 1,260 vessels transited 36.1 million tons (PC/UMS) through the waterway, just a month after setting the record with 35.4 million tons (PC/UMS) transited by 1,166 vessels in December 2016.The containership segment contributed highest tonnage (36 percent)…

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…

Panama has imported its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo to commission the newly built $1 billion Costa Norte facility and power plant at Colon, expected to be a launch-pad for LNG trade across Central America.Many utilities in Central America and the Caribbean remain reliant on burning oil to generate electricity, but LNG offers a cleaner, cheaper and more efficient alternative.Shipping data shows the Engie-chartered Provalys tanker arrived last week, carrying a cargo exported from the Sabine Pass plant in Louisiana in March.AES Panama, a unit of U.S.

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…

In the two years since its inauguration, the Expanded Panama Canal continues to offer record growth across segments and rising trade opportunities around the world. The Panama Canal marked the two-year anniversary of the inauguration of its Canal Expansion, the largest enhancement project in the waterway's 103-year history, on June 26. To date, the Canal has transited 3,745 Neopanamax vessels, traffic that confirms the route's efficiency and the maritime industry's confidence in the Expanded Canal.

The Panama Canal will boost liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker traffic along the waterway from October in a boon to U.S. East Coast LNG producers chasing profits from sales to Asia.As demand for LNG transit grows, the Panama Canal will grant night passage, and scrap its single-file rule to enable passage in opposing directions at the waterway's north end."By lifting these restrictions on October 1, the Canal will unleash even more capacity for LNG," Silvia de Marucci, Executive Manager…

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (Great Lakes), provider of both dredging services in the United States and environmental and infrastructure services, announced the receipt of a several dredging awards totaling $164 million. the Delaware River Deepening Variation Order (Capital, Delaware, $14.3 million). The scope of work for the four coastal protection projects includes sustenance of beachfronts with sand excavated from off-shore borrow which is then used to rebuild dunes and restore the shorelines eroded by winter storms.

BP Shipping has taken delivery of British Partner, the first of a half dozen new 173,400 cubic meter capacity liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers to be delivered through 2018 and 2019 from the DSME shipyard in South Korea.BP Shipping, which launched a fleet rejuvenation program in 2016 that includes 32 new vessels for delivery over a three-year period, says the six new Partnership class ships will increase its ability to transport LNG in emerging new markets, such as Pakistan, Jordan, Egypt and Bangladesh, in addition to established markets, such as India, China, the U.S.

The House of Representatives passed the Ballast Water Management Bill, which is aimed at protecting Jamaica’s marine environment, said Jamaica Information Service, a government agency. The legislation seeks to implement measures to prevent ships entering Jamaica’s waters from introducing foreign aquatic species and diseases into the country. The Minister of Transport and Mining, Robert Montague, said the Bill is in keeping with commitments under the Ballast Water Management Convention, of which Jamaica is a signatory.

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.

Panama Canal was honored as a nominee for the 2018 Lloyd's List Americas Awards' Environment Award in recognition of its pioneering Green Connection Environmental Recognition Program and related initiatives. Representatives from the Panama Canal Authority were among a series of key maritime figures celebrated at the gala event last night in Houston, Texas. The Environment Award, presented by London-based maritime industry publication Lloyd's List, acknowledges exceptional programs working to reduce pollution in the marine environment caused by maritime sources.

Container shipping: Change required for higher ratesDemandThe growing imports of loaded containers into the U.S. East Coast (USEC) continues to be a focal point for the container shipping industry. Growing by 10.4 percent in Q1-2018, the first three months saw 215,000 TEU more entering the USEC than in Q1-2017. Exports grew by 55,000 TEU in the same time span, growing outbound loaded containers by 3.8 percent.This illustrates the constantly changing imbalance in U.S. foreign trade. For every five containers entering the USEC in 2013, four were exported.

Portugal is seeking to expand its deep-water port of Sines to handle greater liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments from the United States and elsewhere to offset Europe's shrinking domestic output, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Monday.Costa, who spoke at a conference on Portugal-U.S. ties, said the port of Sines, which already has an LNG terminal, could be expanded into a larger hub capable of receiving LNG transhipments, with regasification and underground storage facilities and pipeline connections to the rest of Europe.Portugal and Spain…

U.S. salvage industry update: Coast Guard recognition and continuous improvement for the domestic salvage industry and its working professionals.Professional salvors are called in when the ship’s crew is overwhelmed – the last resort to protect lives, minimize environmental impacts and save the ship and cargo. These salvage masters, divers, firefighters, naval architects, heavy lift operators and other salvage team members regularly go into harm’s way and consistently perform incredible feats. They commit their lives and livelihoods to this work.

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has been made aware of a communication sent on 30 May 2018 by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) to the Union de Capitanes y Oficiales de Cubierta (UCOC) about reducing the tug’s complement to the minimum manning established by the Panama Maritime Authority. The ACP has informed the UCOC that from 1 July 2018 there will be further reductions to the crew with the removal of the additional captain. This position is currently part of the forward tug’s crew since the opening of the new locks in 2016.

The Panama Canal may carry five times as much liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2020 as it did last year as production of the fuel expands in the United States and Asian import demand rises, the head of the canal's governing agency told Reuters.LNG volumes traversing the Canal could hit 30 million tonnes a year before the end of 2020, said Jorge Quijano, who leads the Panama Canal Authority, up from 6 million tonnes last year.Demand for LNG has risen significantly in the last three years as the increase of supply…

The Panama Canal welcomed the inaugural transit of the LNG Sakura as it carried the first-ever liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipment from the Dominion Cove Point terminal in the United States to Japan. The transit, which occurred this past weekend, marks the beginning of a new LNG commercial route between the United States and Asia from the recently inaugurated Dominion Cove Point terminal in Maryland, the second U.S. LNG export terminal to come online after Sabine Pass began operations in 2016.