Canal services will not just consist of vessels passing from one ocean to another. There will also be services for terminal RO-RO (Roll on Roll off) , bunkering and ship repairs.

Capital.com.pa reports that “The Panama Canal is backing new business developments. The transit of ships from one ocean to another is not the only service which will be provided by this company in the XXI century and the range of options being considered to diversify the portfolio of services is broad: ranging from a container port in the Pacific to Panamax shipyard services in the Atlantic. ”

One project exemplifies the tone with which the ACP is looking toward the future:
“The study on the Port of Corozal, for example, will be ready in August and will be submitted to the board of the ACP so that it can make its final decision. But so far it seems that the work will go ahead. If the board gives its approval to the project under the terms that have been suggested, the construction of that work will start in 2014 and the first phase of it, estimated at $ 700 million, will be ready in 2016.
‘The Corozal terminal will have capacity for about 4 million TEU`s when completed. The first phase includes most of the docks, which will have the ability to layer up to five ships, and this phase will allow for up to 2.9 million TEU `s. The second phase is where the Canal offices currently are, everything to do with the engineering will have to be moved there,” said Roberto Sabonge, vice president of Research and Market Analysis at the Panama Canal Authority (ACP ).

Source: Capital.com.pa