- the second extension adds seven days to the original outage time
- lane outage decreases daily transit slots for tankers
- wait times stretch to 10 days for southbound trips: shipowners
For the second time, the Panama Canal Authority has extended ongoing maintenance on the waterway’s east lane at the Gatun Locks through July 17 says an article on Splash247.
Lane maintenance extended
The planned maintenance was originally announced June 29 and changed the canal’s condition to Condition 2 from Condition 1, decreasing the number of “super” class ships with beam lengths of 91-107 feet (27.74-32.62 meters) from 10 slots/day to 13 at the Panamax Locks.
Most clean Medium Range and Long Range 1 tankers fall in the superclass, with standard beams around 32 meters on both vessel classes. The extension announced late July 13 marked the second update from the canal authority following an announcement July 9 that stated maintenance would continue through July 16.
Waiting times increased
Shipowners operating in the Americas clean tanker market noted in the first half of July that waiting times for tankers trying to transit southbound through the Canal have increased since maintenance started.
According to shipping sources, in the week ended July 2, wait times for tankers without pre-booked slots stood between three and four days. On July 14, however, shipowners and shipbrokers estimated wait times stood between 10-11 days for non-prebooked ships, depending on the time of arrival at Panama.
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Source: SP Global
