THE panama Canal Authority has announced the introduction of a Long-Term Slot Allocation (LoTSA) Method for neopanamax vessels, reports London's Port Technology.
This method comes as part of the Transit Booking System aiming to increase transit certainty and flexibility.
Currently, the slot offering in the Transit Booking System is done daily with an anticipation period before the required transit date.
Through this method, several transit booking slot packages corresponding to January of the following year will be offered to different market segments; meaning a single client will be able to obtain multiple bookings in one transaction.
Each package will include a specific number of slots with weekly or monthly frequency per year, for both northbound and southbound transits.
These packages, and their characteristics, will be announced through the Booking Slot Projected Availability published on the Panama Canal website and will be awarded to the highest bidder through an auction.
The auction amount of the sealed bid will refer to the maximum amount the customer is willing to pay for each slot included in the package with a starting base of US$200,000.
The auctions will be held starting September 2, in advance of booking dates beginning January 5, through January 3, 2026.
Last week, the Panama Canal Authority announced plans to increase the daily transit slots for vessels from the current 34 to 36 starting in September, according to the canal's deputy administrator.
SeaNews Turkey
This method comes as part of the Transit Booking System aiming to increase transit certainty and flexibility.
Currently, the slot offering in the Transit Booking System is done daily with an anticipation period before the required transit date.
Through this method, several transit booking slot packages corresponding to January of the following year will be offered to different market segments; meaning a single client will be able to obtain multiple bookings in one transaction.
Each package will include a specific number of slots with weekly or monthly frequency per year, for both northbound and southbound transits.
These packages, and their characteristics, will be announced through the Booking Slot Projected Availability published on the Panama Canal website and will be awarded to the highest bidder through an auction.
The auction amount of the sealed bid will refer to the maximum amount the customer is willing to pay for each slot included in the package with a starting base of US$200,000.
The auctions will be held starting September 2, in advance of booking dates beginning January 5, through January 3, 2026.
Last week, the Panama Canal Authority announced plans to increase the daily transit slots for vessels from the current 34 to 36 starting in September, according to the canal's deputy administrator.
SeaNews Turkey
