Panama’s Cabinet Council has approved a new toll structure for vessels transiting the Panama Canal effective April 2016, in line with when commercial operations at the expanded waterway are set to begin.
The new tolls, which will apply to the two existing lanes of the canal and the new, third lane, modifies the pricing structure for most canal segments and establishes a new segment specifically for LNG tankers — a key new market for the canal once the expansion is completed.
The canal expansion project is effectively the addition of the third, wider and deeper shipping lane, ultimately allowing ships up to 13,000-14,000 TEUs to transit.
Tolls on most vessel classes and market segments will now be priced based upon different units of measurement, the Panama Canal Authority, or ACP, said in a statement.