Panama Canal Authority Float Land Bridge Option
Following the recent drought, which wreaked havoc on global shipping services, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) is exploring plans to operate its own land bridge service across the country.
Expected to cost between $1.2 and $1.4 billion, ACP is looking to increase its capacity share from around 8.3m TEU to around 13.3m TEU per year. The project would also provide a solution for Ultra Large Container Vessels (ULCV’s).
The canal is the continent’s only all-water crossing point between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the 2023/4 drought restricted the daily passages to 22 vessels per day at one point, compared to a daily average of 38 under normal circumstances.
While a land bridge service seems to be a logical alternative to the canal, Maersk is among the carriers that have tried this type of service and found that transfer costs can be prohibitive. During the height of the restrictions, the Danish carrier was operating its own land bridge service, but this stopped in May when the canal started to return to normal operations.
The high cost of the transfer would need to be addressed if a sustainable land bridge service is to be found.
Meanwhile, ACP is also considering building a new reservoir and dam to supplement water pumped into the canal from Gatun Lake. This project is estimated to cost around $1.6bn and should add another 12-13 transits per day.
