PANAMA FLASH! | Panama City – May 8th, 2025
New LoTSA Coordination Service and Updated Terms and Conditions
The Panama Canal is pleased to announce the recent update to the LoTSA coordination service. As of April 27, 2025, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has introduced the LoTSA coordination service, which allows customers to request swaps and substitutions among LoTSA slot customers within the same market segment group. This service is currently available daily from 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Further details are included in the updated version of the LoTSA Terms and Conditions document, available at the following link: https://pancanal.com/en/maritime-services/vessel-eta-and-transit- booking/
The following outlines the procedure for slot swaps and substitutions among LOTSA customers operating within the same market segment.
Procedure:
-Customers with LoTSA packages that require to cancel a slot due to the unavailability of a vessel for the registered transit slot shall notify the ACP at least four days prior to the required arrival time. In such cases the ACP will coordinate a Substitution with other LoTSA customers not participating in the same alliance or VSA as the customer canceling the LoTSA slot. The customer receiving the slot will be charged the LoTSA Booking Fee based on the bid placed by the original slot holder. If the ACP is unable to allocate the slot three days prior to the required arrival time, the original holder of the slot will retain the slot and will remain responsible for all associated charges. If the Substitution involves full container vessels with different HML restrictions or between LPG and LNG vessels, no maximum ITT will be guaranteed. This benefit will only be allowed once per LoTSA slot.
-Customers with LoTSA packages that require to cancel a slot because the vessel will not arrive on time for the scheduled transit date, and a change date is not possible, shall notify the ACP at least four days prior to the required arrival time for both vessels, indicating the new required transit date. In such cases, the ACP will coordinate a Swap with another LoTSA Customer not participating in the same alliance or VSA as the customer canceling the LoTSA slot. If approved, each customer will retain their original slot price based on the bid placed. If the ACP is unable to identify a Swap candidate at least three days prior to the required arrival time, the original slot holder retains the slot and remains responsible for all associated charges. If the Swap involves vessels with different HML restrictions or between LPG and LNG, no maximum ITT will be guaranteed. This benefit will only be allowed once per LoTSA slot.
– Whenever a request for swap or substitution is received, other LoTSA customers will be notified via email with the details of the available slot and the duration of the competition period to request it. Once the competition period is closed, the swap or substitution between different customers not participating in the same alliance or VSA will be allocated to other Customer using the following order:
• Customer with the highest bid, in descending order, from the same LoTSA Offering as the customer requesting the swap or substitution.
• Customer with the highest bid, in descending order, from a LoTSA Offering within the same market segment as the customer requesting the swap or substitution, and in order of the LoTSA Offering´s published date.
-If no requests are received during the competition period and the deadline of three days prior to the required arrival time has not been reached, the slot will be made available to a LoTSA customer on a first-come first-serve basis until the deadline is reached.
– Swap or substitution requests must involve vessels transiting in the same direction.
-Subject to ACP validation and management, customers shall notify their intention to swap or substitute a slot by sending an email to LoTSA@pancanal.com. Additionally, the ACP must request cancellation through the booking system, where the request will remain pending until the swap or substitution transaction is either approved or rejected
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)
