Panama Canal unlocks LNG transit restrictions

Daylight and encounter bans will be lifted at the start of October.    The Panama Canal will lift daylight and encounter restrictions on LNG vessels effective Oct. 1.
    Manuel Benitez, deputy administrator of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), announced Wednesday that LNG vessels will be able to transit the locks at night, as vessels in other segments currently do, and navigate Gatun Lake to allow two LNG vessels to transit the canal the same day in two different directions.
   “Together, these changes will provide more flexibility and time during the day to transit LNG vessels and result in an opportunity for LNG shippers to compete for a second booking slot,” Benitez said.
   With the current restrictions in place, the Panama Canal provides one dedicated reservation slot to LNG carriers per day, which is more than the current demand of an average of 5.5 transits per week. The ACP said it also frequently works with customers to transit vessels that arrive without a prior reservation, as long as the day’s vessel mix allows.
   The Panama Canal initially began transiting LNG vessels when the neo-Panamax locks opened in June 2016, and since then, the waterway has had 372 LNG transits.
   “The impact of the neo-Panamax locks is demonstrated across all segments, though perhaps in no segment more than LNG, which has emerged as the waterway’s fastest growing,” ACP said.
    The Panama Canal in April welcomed the inaugural transit of the neo-Panamax LNG Sakura, marking the start of a new LNG commercial route between the United States and Asia from the recently inaugurated Dominion Cove Point terminal in Maryland.
   The canal is expecting a total of 244 LNG transits for fiscal year 2018, which ends Sept. 30, up from 163 transits the prior fiscal year.