New Panamax defined

The Panama Canal Authority has issued precise details on dimensions for the next era of Panamax ships. Proposals for the new locks will be received by 3 March and the canal authority is expected to announce which consortium will be awarded the construction by this May. “Each of the new lock complexes will have three chambers. The chamber dimensions of the new locks will be 427 metres long, 55 metres wide and 18.3 metres deep,” according to the canal authority.

The corresponding maximum dimensions for vessels that will transit these locks are 366-metre length overall, 49 metres in beam and 15.2 metres in tropical freshwater draught. These dimensions define the new Panamax-size vessel.

When the expansion is completed in 2014, the navigational channels will allow transit of what are now described as post-Panamax container ships, Suezmax tankers, Capesize bulk carriers and larger sizes of LNG carriers, passenger ships and other vessel types within the established dimensional limits.