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2006
GOVERNMENT TO ANNOUNCE
EXPANSION PLANS NEXT WEEK
2006, April 17:The government of Panama is
expected to disclose expansion plans for the Panama Canal next week and not a
minute too soon.
 Congestion
and transit delays have been affecting ships trying to use the Western
Hemisphere’s most important waterway.
According to reports last week Monday over 100
vessels were waiting to pass through the Panama Canal, forcing the Panama Canal
Authority to put out a statement explaining that: “Present congestion is due to
abnormally high arrivals'' at the canal, through which 38 to 40 ships can
normally pass each day.”
The Panama Canal, which links the Caribbean Sea
to the Pacific Ocean is 80 kilometres long (about 50 miles), is one of the
world's busiest waterways. Some 14,000 vessels pass through its locks each year.
This volume represents about five percent of world trade.
 Meanwhile,
according to a statement on the Authority’s website: “The Canal continues to
push forward with initiatives under its Permanent Modernization Program, which
contains projects designed to increase capacity. Current projects under
development within the program include: the deepening of Gatun Lake and the
Atlantic and Pacific entrances, the construction of a second Tie-up station in
the Gaillard Cut and the further widening and straightening of the Gaillard Cut.
"With these projects, the ACP is maximizing
the Canal’s resources with the goal to attain 330 million PC/UMS tons over the
next two years.”
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