The happy notion of clear sailing for big LNG carriers through the expanded Panama Canal has experienced a bump—literally.
Three vessels have collided with a lock wall in the new lane of the canal since the $5.4 billion expansion project opened for business on June 26, including an LPG tanker, the Lycaste Peace, in late June.
The first LNG tanker to traverse the new lane of the canal was Shell’s Maran Gas Apollonia, which made the journey on July 25 as it moved cargo from Cheniere Inc.’s Sabine Pass facility to the Pacific Market. Hart Energy reported that no more LNG vessels are scheduled to pass through this year as U.S. producers focus on the better margins available in Europe and South America.
The New York Times reported that the difficulties involve a particular set of locks that lacks an approach wall designed to properly align vessels before tugboats guide them through the narrow opening. On July 21, the 90,757-ton Chinese container ship Xin Fei Zhou suffered small holes in its hull when it struck the lock wall.
The expanded canal can handle all LNG carriers except Q-Max, with capacity of 266,000 cubic meters (cu. m), and Q-Flex (210,000 to 216,000 cu. m), which only operate to and from Qatar.
Canal administrator Jorge Quijano told the Times that topography in that area did not allow for the building of an approach wall. He added that the Berendrecht lock in Antwerp, Belgium, did not have such a wall, though the Times noted that the Belgian lock is significantly wider.
As many as 100 of the plastic buffering fenders installed to protect the lock walls and ship hulls have been damaged since the expansion opened, the Times reported. Canal workers told the newspaper that they questioned whether the fenders were adequate and if tugboat captains had been properly trained in the new procedures for guiding giant ships.
“While we have an adequate amount of trained captains to cover our needs, the training is still being provided in order to satisfy the increased demand in the future,” Quijano said.
The key to that demand, however, may be tied to be getting through the locks.
Joseph Markman can be reached at jmarkman@hartenergy.com. Twitter handle: @JHMarkman
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