Hot Port News from GAC

Beginning at 1800 hours, Monday, June 19, 2017, until 0400 hours, Tuesday, June 20, 2017 (10 hours), the EAST lane of Gatun Locks will be out of service for bulkhead installation. Upon completion of this installation, single culvert operation will be performed on the EAST lane of Gatun Locks until 2359 hours, Wednesday, June 28, 2017.

In addition, beginning at 1800 hours, Tuesday, June 20, 2017, until 0400 hours, Wednesday, June 21, 2017 (10 hours), the WEST lane of Gatun Locks will be out of service for bulkhead installation. Upon completion of this installation, single culvert operation will be performed on the WEST lane of Gatun Locks until 2359 hours, Thursday, June 29, 2017.

Upon completion of the culvert outage at Gatun Locks, the EAST lane will require a 10-hour outage, June 29, 2017, and the WEST lane will require a 10-hour outage on June 30, 2017, for bulkhead removal. This culvert outage is necessary in order to replace ten (10) cylindrical valves.

Concurrent with the culvert outage at Gatun Locks, the following lane outages will also take place on the EAST lane of Pedro Miguel Locks in order to perform scheduled repairs on Miter Gates 54 and 55:
– Beginning at 2300 hours on Wednesday, June 21, 2017, until 0300 hours on Thursday, June 22, 2017 (4 hours).
– Beginning at 2200 hours on Friday, June 23, 2017, until 0300 hours on Saturday, June 24, 2017 (5 hours).
– Beginning at 2300 hours on Saturday, June 24, 2017, until 0300 hours on Sunday, June 25, 2017 (4 hours).
– Beginning at 2200 hours on Monday, June 26, 2017, until 0300 hours on Tuesday, June 27, 2017 (5 hours).

As a result, and in accordance with the rules governing the Transit Reservation System (OP’s Notice to Shipping No. N-7-2017), Condition 1.a for the Panamax locks will be in effect from Tuesday, June 20, 2017, until Friday, June 30, 2017.

Applications for reserved transits while Condition 1.a is in effect will be received beginning at 0900 hours on Saturday, June 17, 2017. The Just-In-Time (JIT) transit slots, as well as the booking slot available through the Auction Process, and the slots available for regular vessels less than 300 feet in LOA, 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-19-2017 dated June 14, 2017