Panama Canal Administrator Meets Intertanko and Intercargo Members

February 11, 2013

As part of the ongoing conversations with the shipping industry, a Panama Canal Authority (ACP) delegation headed by Administrator Jorge L. Quijano met with the International Association Of Independent Tanker Owners (Intertanko) and the International Association Of Dry Cargo Shipowners (Intercargo) in London.

This meeting is part of the permanent dialogue that the Panama Canal holds to reaffirm its relationship with customers and get feedback on their needs in anticipation of the opening of the Third Set of Locks.

“We meet with our customers face-to-face as often as we can, to understand what best suits their business and try to tailor to each segment’s needs,” Quijano said. “We are trying to get closer to how are clients look at their business.”

The Expansion Program will build a new lane of traffic along the Panama Canal through the construction of a new set of locks, which will double capacity and allow more traffic and longer and wider ships. The Expansion will allow the Canal to uphold its position as a reliable route at the service of international commerce.

The Panama Canal Expansion

The Panama Canal Expansion is moving forward to reach its goal of bolstering the waterway’s capacity in order to provide a better service to customers. To date, the program is 50 percent complete.

“The program continues to progress and reach milestones while we focus the next phases on building the locks,” said Quijano.

Beginning 2013, the Expansion Program has completed several projects.

Dredging of the navigational channels has been completed. This included both Canal entrances, on the Pacific and Atlantic sides, as well as Gaillard Cut. The remaining dredging work to be done in Gatun Lake is expected to be completed this year.

The excavations of the Pacific lock access channel are 70 percent complete. This project calls for the excavation of more than 50 million cubic meters of materials along a 6.1 km span and is executed in four phases. Three of the four phases have been completed and the fourth phase is 69 percent complete.

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Press Release, February 11, 2013