Hot Port News from GAC

• Beginning at 2000 hours on Thursday, August 3, 2017, until 0600 hours on Friday, August 4, 2017, (10 hours), the EAST lane of Gatun Locks will be out of service for bulkhead installation.
• Upon completion of the bulkhead installation, at 0600 hours on Friday, August 4, 2017, lockages on the EAST lane of Gatun Locks will be performed with single culvert, causing longer processing times. This condition will be in effect until 2000 hours on Thursday, August 10, 2017.
• Beginning at 1600 hours on Thursday, August 10, 2017, until 2359 hours on Thursday, August 10, 2017, (8 hours), the EAST lane of Gatun Locks will be out of service for bulkhead removal.
• Upon completion of the bulkhead removal, at 0000 hours on Friday, August 11, 2017, the EAST lane of Gatun Locks will return to normal operation.

As a result, and in accordance with the rules governing the Transit Reservation System (OP’s Notice to Shipping No. N-7-2017), Condition 2 for the Panamax locks will be in effect from Tuesday, August 1, 2017, until Thursday, August 10, 2017.
Applications for reserved transits while Condition 2 is in effect will be received beginning at 0900 hours on Saturday, July 29, 2017. The Just-In-Time (JIT) transit slots available for supers will be reduced during this period to one for each direction, whereas the JIT slots for regular vessels transiting without restrictions will remain at one for each direction. The slots available for regular vessels less than 300 feet in LOA will be limited to two, regardless of transit direction, and vessels awarded these slots will not be allowed to request a Daylight Transit. The booking slot available through the Auction Process, and the slots for Neopanamax vessels, will continue to be offered during this period.

(For information about operations in the Panama Canal, contact GAC-Wilford & McKay at gac-wilformckay.panama@gac.com)

Source: Panama Canal Authority Advisory to Shipping No. A-23-2017 dated July 24, 2017