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The Panama Canal Authority has announced the Long-Term Slot Allocation (LoTSA) initiative for Neopanamax vessels, to enhance Transit Reservation System certainty.
Through the LoTSA method, transit booking slot packages will be offered to various market segments, which will include a specific number of weekly or monthly slots per calendar year, for northbound and/or southbound transits. Four slots from the Neopanamax daily offer will be allocated through the LoTSA method, for a total of 28 slots per week, beginning with week one and extending through week 52 per year. Each week spans from Sunday to Saturday.
These packages and their characteristics will be announced through the Projected Booking Slot Availability report available in the Panama Canal webpage (www.pancanal.com) and will be allocated to the highest bidders through a SEALED BID AUCTION. If two or more customers submit a bid for the same amount, the tiebreaker will be based on the order in which the bids were received in the Panama Canal Auction System.
The amount of the sealed bid refers to the maximum amount the customer is willing to pay for each slot included in the package, with a base amount of $200,000.00 USD (two hundred thousand US dollars).
The sealed bid auctions for the first calendar year of this initiative for booking dates from 5 January 2025 to 3 January 2026 will be held on designated windows beginning September 2, 2024. The terms and conditions for the LoTSA initiative is available in the following link: https://pancanal.com/en/maritime-services/vessel-eta-and-transit-booking/
The slot distribution per Booking Period for Neopanamax Locks from 5 January 2025 until further notice, are as follows:
Vessel Category NEOPANAMAX
Special Period: 1
Long-Term Allocation: 4
Period 1 (90 Days): * Slot carried over from Special Period if not awarded
Period 1A (30-15 Days): 2
Period 2 (1408 Days): 2 **Includes the ‘conditioned’ slot.
Period 3 (Auctions 7-2 Days): 1
TOTAL: 10
Slots not allocated through the LoTSA method will be carried over to Booking Period 1a.
For the total of all available daily slots offered in all booking periods, including the LoTSA slots, the limits per direction and restriction will be as follows: no more than 5 Neopanamax vessels may be booked for transit in the northbound direction. Of these, no more than one with daylight restriction. Similarly, no more than 4 Neopanamax vessels may be booked for transit in the southbound direction, and of these, no more than one with daylight restriction. The rules regarding the maximum number of slots that may be allocated to LNG vessels and the maximum number of slots for “daylight-restricted” vessels, combined with LNG vessels, will remain unchanged.
The slots not allocated through the LoTSA initiative will continue to be available via the established Transit Reservation System and the Panama Canal Auction System.
For booking dates starting 1 January 2025, a dedicated monthly slot will be auctioned to Neopanamax vessels that meet the standards established in the Panama Canal Green Vessel Classification (refer to Advisory to Shipping No. A-12-2023). This exclusive slot will become available for auction 30 days prior to the scheduled transit date. This pilot program is designed to encourage the transit of vessels equipped with energy-efficient technologies and/or alternative fuels, thereby contributing to the reduction of our scope three emissions.
In addition, for booking dates beginning 1 January 2025, the required arrival time for booked supers or regular vessels with transit restrictions (clear-cut, clear-cut daylight hours) will be 2200 hours on the day prior to their booking date. If the vessel does not arrive by the required arrival time, the vessel will be subject to forfeiture of the prescribed booking fee. Commercial passenger vessels are exempt from this new arrival requirement.
For information about operations in Panama, contact GAC Panama at [email protected]