PANAMA FLASH! | Panama City – April 16th, 2025
Tentative scheduled Maintenance – West Lane Pedro Miguel Locks
The Canal Authority informed that tentatively they are planning a lane outage for maintenance on the west lane of Pedro Miguel locks. The dates announced are from May 27th to May 31st, 2025 (5 days). During this period the booking condition will be changed to 2 reducing the daily capacity in the Panamax locks from 26 vessels to 16.
In accordance with the rules governing the Transit Reservation (Booking) System. During Booking Period 2, Only Four (4) booking slots will be offered to supers and no booking slots will be offered to regular vessels. The total number of slots available to supers and regulars will be 13 and 3 respectively.
The ACP is still evaluating whether to offer one of the 4 slots that will be avaialble in the 2nd booking period to the period 3 (auction). This will be communicated at a later stage.
We urge our customers to participate in the 1st period while the slots are still available to avoid delays during the maintenance period.
The Panama Canal Authority has tentatively scheduled maintenance on the west lane of the Pedro Miguel Locks from May 27th to May 31st, 2025 (5 days).
During this period, the Panamax Locks will operate with reduced capacity, and the booking condition will be adjusted to Condition 2, reducing the daily transit capacity from 26 vessels to 16.
In line with the Transit Reservation (Booking) System regulations, during Booking Period 2, only four (4) booking slots will be available to Super vessels, and no slots will be offered to Regular vessels. The total number of slots for the period will be limited to 13 for Supers and 3 for Regulars.
The Canal Authority is still evaluating whether one of the four slots allocated for Booking Period 2 may instead be offered during Booking Period 3 (Auction Phase). Further updates on this decision will be communicated in due course.
Please note: This maintenance will not affect operations at the Neopanamax Locks, which are expected to continue operating normally.
We strongly encourage customers to secure their reservations during the 1st Booking Period, while slots remain available. Due to the limited capacity, auction demand is expected to rise, which may lead to higher auction prices. Early booking is the best way to ensure timely transit and avoid increased costs or potential delays during this period.
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)
