Panama Canal Prepares For Expansion In 2015

23 Dec 2014: Interest in the Panama Canal expansion, which will double transit capacity through the waterway, is growing as the $5.25 billion project nears completion. Started back in 2007, construction is 64% complete with the expansion now scheduled to come on-line towards the end of 2015. Nearly 90% of the LNG fleet will be able to transit the canal after it is expanded, compared to just 7% today. Although the timing fits perfectly with the liquefaction projects under construction or proposed on the US Gulf Coast and along the eastern seaboard, the idea that LNG vessels would be transiting the canal was not on any radar screen when the expansion was first conceived. Imports of LNG into the US actually peaked in 2007 at 16 MMt, largely sourced from exporters in the Atlantic basin with no need for the canal. The major impetus behind the expansion was to attract larger container vessels, allowing Panama to compete with rival offerings from the Suez Canal. Now, however, the 48-mile artery connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans promises to become an inter-basin route for US export projects. Download here