# Ships at Risk in New Panama Canal



## Geoff Gower (Sep 8, 2011)

Captain Rainiero Salas, president of the Panama Canal Pilots Association (PCP), said that his organization has not once been contacted by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) concerning ship operations in the new canal. The PCP was formed in 1919 and has 270 members who handle about 14,000 transits each year through the canal. “It seems very odd that the most experienced people moving ships through this highly important system have been completely ignored by its governing authority,” Salas said. “At the PCP, our most critical mission is ship safety, yet we’ve not been consulted.” The new canal will open in 2016. Ship traffic is expected to double, and the ships will be much larger. Ships currently transiting the canal are assisted by locomotives, which pull them through the locks. But, according to Salas, the ACP has unilaterally decided to use tugboats for the new locks, which will be 1,400 feet long, 180 feet wide, 60 feet deep and able to accommodate 12,500-TEU container ships and bulkers transporting up to 140,000 metric tons of cargo . In 2006, when the new canal expansion was first announced, the pilots began visiting other canals around the world to study tug and ship interactions in confined spaces, and did so at their own expense. The pilots submitted their findings and suggestions to the canal administration, but there has been no response, Salas said
“No other place in the world has three locks, so why not get advice from pilots working there every day?” he said. “But we’ve been ignored.” The expansion will add a third lane by constructing locks on the Pacific side, southwest of the existing Miraflores Locks, and on the Atlantic side east of the existing Gatun Locks. A significant portion of the new locks was excavated by the U.S. in 1939, but dredging was suspended in 1942 because of WW II. Salas is also concerned about the operational notices sent to the pilots about navigating the Culebra Cut, which is the narrowest section of the canal. The cut was widened over a decade ago from 500 feet to 630 feet with the intention of allowing two Panamax-sized ships to transit it at the same time, but that never happened due to safety concerns. 
The Culebra Cut is currently being widened to 715 feet, and the Canal Authority has issued a notice to the pilots approving the side-by-side transit of two Post-Panamax vessels, moving in opposite directions, through the Cut at the same time. “The Canal Authority has already made its engineering and marketing decisions,” Salas said. “But now it’s issuing operational directives without any input from the pilots, and that makes me very concerned.”


----------



## ben27 (Dec 27, 2012)

good day geoff gower.sm.yesterday.21:22.re:ships at risk in new panama canal.very interesting post,the pilots have a lot of experience the powers that be should take note of what advice they offer,thank you for posting regards ben27


----------

