The Panama Canal has announced, through an Advisory to Shipping, the introduction of a Long-Term Slot Allocation (LoTSA) Method for Neopanamax vessels, as part of the Transit Booking System, to increase transit certainty and flexibility for our clients.
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 website pancanal.com 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$200 000.00.
These are divided into:
- Period 1 (for bookings 90 days before transit)
- Period 1A (for bookings from 30 to 15 days)
- Period 2 (for bookings between 14 and 8 days)
- Period 3 (for bookings from 7 to 2 days).
The LoTSA method is added to these with availability within the various slot packages.
The auctions will be held starting September 2, 2024, in advance of booking dates beginning January 5, 2025, through January 3, 2026.
The Panama Canal remains focused on improving efficiency and responsiveness to the changing needs of the maritime industry. The introduction of this booking method reflects the ongoing commitment to maintaining the Canal as a world-class trade route.