NYK LPG tanker grabs the first slot for transiting the expanded Panama Canal and along with it 25 mega-vessels get their first time opportunity to transit the wider channel.
The all new expanded Panama Canal waterway is set to open on June 27, the honor of transiting the canal as the first ship has been reserved for Linden Pride, a Neopanamax liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker owned by Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line), the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) announced on Tuesday.
The canal can now accommodate mega vessels to travel the 50 miles between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, because of wider and deeper locks. Twenty-five mega-vessels that had never travelled the canal before grabbed the chance on the very first day of accepting reservations.
There will be a maximum of four booking slots per day, no more than two in each direction with a maximum of one with daylight-restriction per direction.
Panama Canal Administrator Jorge L. Quijano said, “Today marks an important day in canal history because the reservation system is now opened for Neopanamax ships that will start using the new lane starting June 27,”
References: Wallstreet Journal, Panamacanal
