After the Expansion
June 15, 2017
Utilizing our remotely sensed vessel position data, we took a look into the aftermath of the Panama Canal Expansion project. Our data shows that the monthly average of Panama Canal tanker transits reached 85 trips in the first five months of 2017, a 16.5% year-on-year increase from 2016. The passage way concluded its expansion in June of 2016, which added a third set of locks and doubled the canal’s transit capacity. Since the beginning of 2017, we have seen a notable rise in Aframax/LR2 sized transits following a lack of activity in the second half of 2016, likely due to requirements to install new equipment aboard vessels before making the voyage as well as numerous reports of collisions with the canal walls, which may have deterred owners.
Just one Suezmax transited the passage way in August of 2016, a rare occurrence as this sized tanker cannot make the trip fully loaded and must partially load or partially discharge before making the trip. Panama Canal transits on MR sized ships have remained relatively steady, while Panamax/LR1 sized vessels experienced just a slight bump in activity through 2017. We have also witnessed growth in the quantity of vessels transiting the canal with US Gulf cargoes as the average number of transits rose to 43 per month. A majority of this activity stems from MR vessels, likely transporting gasoil to Chile.
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