On April 17, the Panama Canal Administration has announced that it was successful in the assisting the transition of three LNG vessels through its Neopanamax locks, marking a first for the waterway.
What happened?
The Panama Canal transited the Clean Ocean, Gaslog Gibraltar and Gaslog Hong Kong vessels, which first arrived at the Canal from the Pacific Ocean and transited north, departing on the Atlantic side.
This development marks a significant milestone for the Panama Canal and its service of the burgeoning LNG segment – which began transiting the waterway for the first time following the inauguration of the Expanded Canal and has seen steady growth over the years.
Exceeding expectations
Since, the demand for LNG has increased, the Canal is committed to meet the needs of its customer and to take the necessary steps to increase its capacity to meet customer demands.
As of now, the Panama Canal offers one of the seven Neopanamax reservation slots available per day to LNG shippers specifically, which currently average five transits per week. However, during periods of high seasonal demand, the waterway has transited two vessels in one day on 14 separate occasions. In this fiscal year, as of March 2018, the Canal has locked 134 LNG transits.
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Source: Panama Canal
