PANAMA FLASH! | Panama City – February 19th, 2026
Increased Booking Demand for Northbound Transits
Current Panama Canal traffic conditions indicate a surge in vessel arrivals, resulting in increased booking demand, particularly for Northbound transits within the Regular and Super categories over the next 20 days.
The growing number of vessels arriving without confirmed reservations is rapidly reducing slot availability. Consequently, vessels unable to secure booking slots are expected to rely on the auction process, where bidding levels are likely to increase for these categories.
Owners and operators are strongly encouraged to secure bookings once vessel ETAs are firm, while slots remain available within the First Period and early Second Period windows.
Early action will be key to minimizing potential delays and exposure to higher auction costs.
Panamax Locks Maintenance
The Canal Authority has informed of a tentative lane outage to facilitate maintenance works during the following period:
Dates: April 7 – April 9 (3 days)
Location: Gatun East Lane
Booking Condition: Condition 2
Estimated Daily Capacity: 16 vessels in the Panamax locks
These maintenance works have not yet been formally confirmed by the Canal Authority; however, if implemented as indicated, overall Canal capacity will be reduced. Under such conditions, transit booking demand is expected to exceed the number of slots available.
The Transit Reservation System for the Panamax locks would be declared under Condition 2 (reduced booking availability). As a result, difficulties in obtaining booking slots are expected to increase due to the temporary reduction in transit capacity.
Booking slots will continue to be allocated based on the customer weighted ranking system. Additionally, booking slot will be offered through the auction process, with minimum opening bids of USD 55,000 for Supers and USD 15,000 for Regulars.
To minimize potential delays, we recommend securing transit reservations while First and Second Period booking slots remain available.
Please note: This maintenance will not affect operations at the Neopanamax Locks, which are expected to continue operating normally.
Internet / Bank Fraud
As a further reminder, email hacking and fraudulent banking instructions remain a constant threat within our industry.
We hereby reconfirm the banking details for Norton Lilly International (Panama), S.A. held with Citibank New York, which have remained unchanged and in continuous use for more than ten (10) years.
Should you receive any communication containing different bank details or revised wiring instructions allegedly issued on behalf of Norton Lilly Panama, please contact us by telephone to verify authenticity prior to processing any payment.
For avoidance of doubt, our confirmed banking details are as follows:
Citibank N.A.
111 Wall St.
New York, N.Y. 10043
Swift: CITIUS33 / ABA 021000089
Beneficiary: Norton Lilly International (Panama), S.A.
Account No.: 36937495
For additional information, please reach out to our operators at operations@nortonlilly.com.pa.
Norton Lilly International (Panama) S.A.
Bldg. 3825 – Office 204
Howard – Panama-Pacifico
Panama, Rep. of Panama
Tel: (507) 304-4600
Main email: operations@nortonlilly.com.pa (24 hours)
