THE Panama Canal expects a 2.4 per cent loss in Asian cargo volume this fiscal year as major shipping lines shift to the Suez Canal to reach the consumer rich-US east coast.
Panama stands to lose US$40 million a year as majors shift to Suez THE Panama Canal expects a 2.4 per cent loss in Asian cargo volume this fiscal year as major shipping lines shift to the Suez Canal to reach the consumer rich-US east coast, the canal administrator said.
While it takes 11 days more, Maersk Line said Suez saves money because it can nearly double its load on bigger ships which cannot go through the Panama locks, Reuters reports. Maersk is the Panama Canal's biggest customer.
Maersk is joined by APL, the container shipping unit of Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), which is launching a service from Asia to the US east coast, sending ships through Suez, while still retaining three of its six services via Panama.Said Panama Canal Authority administrator Jorge Quijano: "It's something we knew was going to happen." Clarification from Panama Canal We received a clarification from Panama Canal after publishing this article.It is as follows:" Regarding the article published on May 13, 2013 titled Panama stands to lose US$40 million a year as majors shift to Suez (http://www.seanews.com.tr/article/worldship/101905/Panama-Suez-Majors-Prefer/) we wanted to clarify that Maersk’s decision to change its TP-7 service is not the main reason for the loss of tonnage this fiscal year. The drought in the United States caused an important decrease in the dry bulk vessels to Asia. We have to also take that into consideration. "