Temporary relief measures extended to year-end

01 Sep 2020 / Panama Canal, Panama

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the global economy, the Panama Canal will extend its temporary relief measures to December 31, 2020, offering further support for the industry's recovery.

This extension comes after continued dialogue between the Canal and industry leaders on how to best provide relief as the world looks to recover from the economic and social impact of COVID-19…

…Implemented on May 4 and originally set to run until September 1, the relief measures include the suspension of advance payments for transit reservation fees and other changes to the waterway's reservation system. Together, they allow customers to maintain higher liquidity, as well as added flexibility for swapping or substituting booking slots among their own fleets…

…Transits at the Panama Canal climbed from 845 in June to 933 in July, and August is showing a similar trend. The increase was largely driven by a surge in containership transits along the U.S. East Coast to Asia route.

The extension of the relief measures comes on the heels of the Canal's commitment to make the investments in order to secure a sustainable, long-term solution to water levels, furthering the waterway's operational reliability in the years to come.

(For information about operations in the Panama Canal, contact GAC Panama at [email protected])

Source: Extracts from Panama Canal Authority (www.pancanal.com) press release

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