Nearly a thousand neopanamax ships have been traveling through the extension of the Panama Canal since its opening on June last year until today, reported the administrator of the inter-oceanic way, Jorge Luis Quijano.
Speaking to the press after his speech at the Panama Maritime Conference, which is in session here, he assured that thanks to this mega-work the logistic enclave managed to recover part of the market that in recent years was lost against the Suez Canal.
‘We now have a tool that gives us greater competitiveness to handle the larger ships that previously could not pass through the Channel,’ he said.
He pointed out that last year, 330.4 million tons of cargo were transported along the route, generating revenues of 1 933 million dollars, of which 94.3 percent correspond to panamax and 5.7 percent to neopanamax .
Quijano stressed that almost 30 percent of the Canal’s total revenues enter through its new locks, a figure that should increase as large vessels continue their passage, a crossing that also contemplates the stop at the ports adjacent to the inter-oceánic road.
To this end, we are working on projecting more scientific strategies and proposals such as the installation of competitive toll rates, which will allow us to recover the entire lost market and gain more volume of cargo and revenues, he said.
Tuesday’s agenda of Panama Maritime expects the execution of the First Sustainable Environment Conference in the International Maritime Industry, which seeks to seek mechanisms to transform the way in which ships move through the oceans.
Nearly 300 delegates from 30 countries meet here until tomorrow as part of this biannual specialized meeting, with the aim of analyzing and discussing the challenges the sector is facing in order to maintain its competitiveness.
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