Panama Canal sets FY cargo tonnage record

A total of 13,548 vessels transited the Central American waterway during FY 2017, a 3.3 percent increase compared to the previous fiscal year’s total, according to statistics from the Panama Canal Authority (ACP).    The Panama Canal reaped the benefits of last year’s expansion by seeing a record 403.8 million Panama Canal tons (PC/UMS) of cargo pass through its locks in its fiscal 2017 year, the largest amount of annual tonnage ever in the Central American waterway’s 103-year history.
   The amount, which surpassed the canal’s projected 399 PC/UMS, is a 22.2 percent increase from FY 2016, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) said Oct. 17.
   Thanks to the larger Neopanamax vessels now able to transit the expanded canal, a total of 13,548 vessels transited the important cargo gateway during FY 2017, a 3.3 percent increase compared to the year before. The expanded canal debuted in June 2016. The canal’s 2017 fiscal year began Oct. 1, 2016, and ended Sept. 30, 2017.
   “These record figures reflect not only the industry’s confidence in the expanded canal, but also illustrate the Panama Canal’s continued ability to transform the global economy and revitalize the maritime industry,” Panama Canal Administrator Jorge L. Quijano said in a statement.
   The record-breaking results include many important milestones, including the welcoming of the YM Unity containership, the waterway’s 500th Neopanamax vessel transit, in December 2016. In March 2017, Mediterranean Shipping Co.’s MSC Anzu became the 1000th Neopanamax vessel to transit the canal. And the September 2017 transit of the COSCO Yantian containership marked 2,000 Neopanamax transits. 
   In August, the Neopanamax containership CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt became the largest ship to transit the canal to date, measuring 365.96 meters (1,200 feet) in length and 48.252 meters (158 feet) in beam with a total TEU allowance (TTA) of 14,863 units. The vessel later traveled to the Port of New York and New Jersey for the inauguration of the newly-raised Bayonne Bridge.
   The Panama Canal now serves 29 major liner services, including 15 Neopanamax liner services, primarily on the Asia to U.S. East Coast trade route.
   The container segment accounted for 35.3 percent of the total cargo transiting the canal during FY 2017, equal to a total 143 million tons PC/UMS, of which 89.1 million tons transited the expanded third lane of the canal, according to ACP statistics.
   Tankers, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers, represented the second-largest market segment at 105 million PC/UMS, followed by bulk carriers at 79 million PC/UMS) and vehicle carriers at 47 million PC/UMS.
   Figures show that the main routes using the Panama Canal during the fiscal year were between Asia and the U.S. East Coast (34 percent), the South American West Coast and the U.S. East Coast (13 percent each), the West Coast of South America and Europe (7 percent), the West Coast of Central America and the U.S. East Coast (7 percent apiece) and intercoastal South America (5 percent).
   The United States continued to be the main user of the waterway representing the origin or destination for 68.3 percent of the total cargo transiting the canal, according to the Panama Canal Authority, with the countries of China, Chile, Japan, Mexico and Colombia also among the top users of the canal.