Panama Canal: Feeder container dimensions to influence canal patterns
The size of feeder ships in the impending future will decide how much legacy locks happening in the Panama Canal can be utilized by the ocean carriers.
Post-Panamax vessels in the 9,000 TEU range are calling upon the U.S East Coast ports by transiting through the wider portion of the Panama Canal or the Suez Canal. Furthermore, Neo-Panamax vessels that fall between 10,000-14,000-TEU ranges have been reported to start transiting through the Panama Canal later this year.
It is reported that if feeder vessels that shuttle freight from load centres to destination ports are greater than 5,000 TEU, it will inhibit them from using the older locks. The Panama Canal expansion is set to open all possibilities for shifting trade patterns between the Atlantic and the Pacific coast. Panama Canal has room for a fourth set of locks if there is a long term need for it.
Bazan said ACP is trying to conduct a 40-year demand forecast that is difficult to carry out due to changing macroeconomic conditions such as global economy, growth consumption, population and decreasing exports from China since the country is focussing on domestic manufacturing.
According to the figures provided by ACP, more than 200 vessels, including container vessels, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) transporters, vehicle transporters, oil freighters, dry bulkers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) transporters, have been using the Panama Canal’s new lane which was unveiled last summer since then about 70 percent of the transportations are carried out by container vessels.
Initial predictions were that one to two containers would utilize the expanded locks each day, which are 70 feet wider and 18 feet deeper than those locks in the original Canal, but Bazan said about 2.5 containers per day are making the passage.
He noted that major ocean transporters have redirected their services through the Panama Canal to take advantage of the time savings the waterway provides. The alliance between Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping, which was announced in July, specified that it would be redirecting its services from the Suez Canal to the Panama Canal for a couple of ships.
Bazan said, “The thriving of oil and gas production in the U.S due to fracking technology is also expected to intensify the demand for exporting energy products from the Gulf Coast ports to Asia”.
He also stated that “In recent weeks, the Panama Canal has handled the largest car carrier ever built, the first Suezmax tanker and the first Cape-size bulk container. Oil tankers are not likely to use the Panama Canal to make deliveries but could use it in ballast position to complete around-the-world rotations to pick up their next load from the Middle East. Using the Canal instead of rounding Cape Horn saves tankers 5,600 miles and more than 15 days of sailing time”.
Earlier in April, ACP instigated temporary draft limits for large containers because of water shortages that prevented enough water to be used in lock chambers to float vessels through. The limitations required vessels to lessen loads at ports of origin so they ride higher and require less water to raise them through the locks.
El Nino effect:
El Niño is a climate occurrence resulting in periodic warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean which results in changing the rainfall pattern in Panama, triggering a drought in the canal watershed and causing water levels in Gatun and Alajuela lakes to drop substantially below their average level.
ACP primarily sets the maximum draft at 39 feet in fresh water. The draft is defined as the distance between the waterline and the bottom of the keel. Bazan said, “The draft constraints have gradually been increased to 44 feet and will soon be increased to 46 feet. The water reservoirs are being refilled during the rainy season and officials do not expect any long-term problems handling the largest vessels in the future”.
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Source: American Shipper
