South Korea-based SK Gas Ltd. agreed to pay $5.3 million in an auction run by the Panama Canal Authority this week to secure a September 1 northbound transit slot for its liquefied petroleum gas tanker G. Spirit, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg. The fee breaks the previous high of $4.6 million set earlier this month, also paid by a shipper controlling a South Korean-flagged vessel. Before February, the median auction price for expedited canal passage stood at around $55,000, according to the Panama Canal Authority, illustrating how sharply demand for guaranteed access has escalated.
Demand to urgently transit the waterway has surged after the Iran war disrupted global trade routes, particularly to Asia, while wait times for vessels arriving without reservations have stretched to as long as 11 days, according to Argus Media. The escalating premiums come as the canal authority tightens capacity: daily transits will fall from 36 to 34 starting September 3 and to 32 later in the month, as Panama contends with an El Niño-driven drought that has left rainfall deficits of up to 60% on the Pacific side and 11 watersheds under water stress. Panama’s government declared a nationwide state of emergency over the El Niño conditions this week, underscoring the strain on a waterway that handles roughly 5% of global maritime trade.
Source: Bloomberg (via gCaptain) — https://gcaptain.com/panama-canal-auction-hits-new-record-at-5-3-million/
Tags: Panama Canal, LPG Tankers, El Niño, SK Gas
