LNG ships transit the Panama Canal: The first of October the Panama Canal reached a new milestone after the successful transit of four liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships, with sleeves of up to 160 feet, in a single day, through the neopanamax locks. With this milestone, the Panama Canal breaks the record set on April 17, 2018, when three LNG vessels traveled on the same day.
This day the Ribera del Duero Knutsen, of 173,000 m3 and Maran Gas Pericles, of 174,000 m3, and southwards Torben Spirit, of 173,000 m3 and Oceanic Breeze, of 155,300 m3, facilitating international trade among customers of South Korea, Japan, Chile and the Gulf of Mexico, in the United States.
Based on the experience gained after the transit of more than 4,200 neopanamax vessels, the Panama Canal modified its reservation system to offer up to two quotas per day for LNG vessels. This experience has also allowed it to optimize the capacity of the expanded Canal, in order to meet specific demands such as the one registered on Monday with the transit of four LNG vessels.
The new rules, announced in August of this year and which came into effect, allow the night transit of LNG ships in the neopanamax locks, as well as the encounters of these vessels in Gatun Lake, in opposite directions.
With the modifications that came into effect this Monday, the Panama Canal ensures to be able to handle the growing demand for transit of LNG from the United States once the different export terminals in that country come into operation.
