The 8,900 teu-MOL Benefactor carrying 7,100 teu became on 1 July the first neo-panamax container vessel to transit the Panama Canal after its inauguration 26 June.
The boxship, built in 2016, is 336 m long, 48.25m wide with 12.36m transit draught although her maximum draught a transit draft of 15.5m and paid the record toll of $841,000. MOL Benefactor is part of the NYX service whose partners are OOCL, NYK, APL, MOL, Hapag-Lloyd and HMM.
Her voyage began in Quingdao, calling Ningbo, Shanghai, Pusan, MIT (Panama), New York, Norfolk, Savannah, MIT (Panama) and back to Asia.
Canal tolls increased 1 April and are paid by panamaxes and neo-panamaxes alike, those later paying according to their load and capacity which are expected to double or triple in near future the panamax vessels.