August 13 - The newly restructured Panama Canal tolls that increase in October will not affect the The container and breakbulk shipping sectors, for now.
The Panama Canal Authority is increasing the number of shipping segments from eight to ten that will have to pay the increased tolls from eight to ten.
"The new structure offers price stability to the Panama Canal clients during the next two years, while the approved tolls remain below the value it offers as a safe, reliable and efficient route," said Panama Canal Authority Administrator and CEO Alberto Alemán Zubieta in a statement.
The ACP stated that the tanker sector has been broken into three segments, while ro-ro vessels have been rolled into into the vehicle carrier segment.
The Canal's new market segmentation structure includes the following breakdown: full container, reefer, dry bulk, passenger, vehicle carrier and ro-ro, tanker, chemical tanker, LPG, general cargo and 'others'.
The containerised and breakbulk shipping sectors were to have been included in the ACP's original toll hike proposal that was subsequently postponed until October 2012 and October 2013, respectively, but were spared from the higher charges for the time being.
The ACP's statement said the (container, breakbulk segments) will not be adjusted at this time, nor will the price per teu for containers carried onboard a vessel.
