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Panama Canal marks

Neopanamax transit milestone

The SK Resolute LNG carrier completed a transit last week that marked the 10,000th
journey by a Neopanamax vessel through the Panama Canal since its expansion

COMMENTARY THE Panama Canal marked a significant mile- through the expanded canal, surpassed only by
stone last week with the transit of the SK Resolute container ships with a 46% share and liquefied
LNG carrier. The transit, completed on August petroleum gas (LPG) with 25%. The expanded
WHAT: 11, was the 10,000th by a Neopanamax vessel to locks handle 27% of transits and half of total ton-
The 10,000th transit by be made through the canal since its expansion. nage via the Panama Canal today, thanks in part
a Neopanamax vessel The SK Resolute is en route to the Chinese port to LNG shipments.
through the expanded of Zhoushan from the US Gulf Coast. For the SK Resolute, last week marked its 13th
Panama Canal was The journey illustrates the Panama Canal’s transit through the waterway. The vessel travels
completed last week. contribution to the LNG since its enlarged locks regularly between the US East Coast and South
entered service in 2016, cutting the time required Korea and Japan, as well as from Chile to the east
WHY: for tankers to travel between the US and Asia. An coast of North America.
The transit through the LNG carrier travelling at an average speed of 10 Last week also marked the 106th anniversary
Panama Canal offers a knots from Louisiana to Tokyo via the Panama of the Panama Canal.
shorter route between US Canal is estimated to take 38 days and 9 hours to “The two historic milestones this week – our
Gulf Coast LNG terminals transit the 9,209 nautical miles (17,055 km). By 10,000th Neopanamax transit and 106th anni-
and Asian markets. contrast, travelling at the same speed via the Suez versary – are symbolic,” stated Panama Canal
Canal would take roughly 60 days and 12 hours, administrator Ricaurte Vasquez. “Together,
WHAT NEXT: with a distance of 14,521 nautical miles (26,893 they reiterate that the Panama Canal is not
The canal is seeing a km). Other routes, via the Cape of Good Hope only a trusted and reliable service, but also one
rebound in ship transits, or the Straits of Magellan, would take longer still. committed to continued competitiveness and
though there have been It is thus not surprising that LNG tanker traf- growth.”
warnings that LNG vessel fic through the Panama Canal has boomed since
traffic could be slower to 2016 – the same year that exports of the super- Taking a hit
recover than other vessel chilled fuel from the US Gulf Coast began with Despite the role the Panama Canal plays, traffic
categories. the start-up of the Sabine Pass liquefaction ter- on the waterway had already taken a hit prior to
minal. According to the Panama Canal Author- the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of the trade
ity, LNG shipping now represents 12% of transits war between the US and China. In 2019, China’s

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 34 27•August•2020