(With extra pictures and video) Last week, the Panama Canal saw its first LNG carrier transit through its expanded locks. It was also the first vessel to receive the Panama Canal's new Green Connection Award.
Shell-chartered Maran Gas Apollonia, measuring 289 metres in length and 45 metres in beam, arrived from the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal on the U.S. Gulf Coast, signaling the arrival of the highly-anticipated segment to the waterway.
Shell-chartered LNG carrier Maran Gas Apollonia transiting the Expanded Panama Canal’s Agua Clara Locks.
New Tolls Structure for LNG Vessels
The Expanded Canal can accommodate ninety per cent of the world’s LNG tankers, which will have a major impact on global LNG flows and offer numerous benefits to shippers. To stimulate LNG carrier owners to take the Panama Canal route, the Canal instituted a new tolls structure that offers cost savings to LNG vessels conducting roundtrip voyages.
The new tolls reduce ballast fees for LNG customers who use the same vessel for a roundtrip voyage as opposed to using an alternate route, so long as the transit in ballast is made within sixty days after the laden transit was completed.
First to Receive Green Connection Award
The Green Connection Award has been awarded to Maran Gas Apollonia, Shell International Trading & Shipping Company, in acknowledgment to their commitment to emissions reductions by using the Panama Canal route and in accordance with its contribution to the protection and conservation of the environment.
Maran Gas Apollonia transiting the Expanded Panama Canal’s Cocoli Locks, completing the historic LNG transit.
By transiting the Panama Canal Green Route, Shell-chartered Maran Gas Apollonia contributes to the environment by using a shorter route, reducing CO2 emissions from the shipping industry.
The Panama Canal has launched the Green Connection Award to recognise customers who demonstrate excellent environmental stewardship, and to encourage others to implement technologies and standards to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Watch the video below, demonstrating how the Panama Canal seeks te be a Green Route.
Picture: The Expanded Panama Canal (all pictures by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP)).
