[240112.EN.SEA] Panama Ups Ante: To Accommodate 13,000-TEUers, Not 10,000 As Before

PANAMA's expanded canal expansion programme will now be able to accommodate 13,000-TEU ships when it was only expected to handle 10,000-TEUers before, reports London's SupplyChainStandard.

The Panama Canal expansion recently reached a new milestone with the filling of a segment of channel linking the new locks with the Culebra Cut, said the report. When complete in 2014, the canal will be able to take containerships of up to 13,000 TEU, rather than the current 5,000 TEU limit.

There has been recent speculation that the much touted Panama Canal expansion was not that important because of the rash of 10,000-TEU plus ships being ordered. Many felt that with megaships dominating the transpacific trade routes, the expansion plans would fall short of making the ever-ascending grade in ship size by the time it was fully re-opened in 2014.

"The canal continues to focus on enhancing the value of Panama as a world trade route as our country offers all kinds of geographic and competitive advantages. Today's act of filling part of the channel is one more step in that direction," said Panama Canal Authority Administrator Alberto Aleman Zubieta.

The construction consists of two new sets of locks - one on the Pacific and one on the Atlantic. Each will have three locks. The programme also entails the widening and deepening of existing navigational channels in Gatun Lake and the deepening of Culebra Cut.

To open a new 6.1 kilometre access channel to connect the Pacific locks and the Culebra Cut, four dry excavation projects will be completed, said the report.

Source : HKSG.