Panama Canal Expects 8 LNG Transits in One Month

The Panama Canal celebrated 102 years of successful operations on August 15, one day after welcoming its 100th transit through the Expanded waterway. The Panama-registered containership Hanjin Xiamen passed through the Canal August 14 en route from the Pacific to New York.

In an emailed statement to Natural Gas World, the Panama Canal Authority added that four LNG vessels have now transited the Expanded Canal since its inauguration in June, with another four expected to transit by August 26 when the new waterway will complete its second full month of operation.

The first two LNG tankers transited in late July, carrying a Shell cargo from Sabine Pass to China and a BP cargo from Trinidad to Mexico's west coast. So if all eight LNG tankers do transit as forecast by the authority, they will have done so in little over a month – a good start for the expanded waterway.

containership Hanjin Xiamen became the 100th vessel to transit the Expanded Panama Canal on August 14 (Photo credit: Panama Canal Authority) 

Mark Smedley