Americas News
Panama: Historic Low Water Levels, Congestion Boosts Demand for Outer Anchorage Bunkering
The Panama Canal's historic low water level this year has resulted in some well documented ship congestion at both the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the canal.
As transit wait times increase, bunker supplier Monjasa says it has been working with local maritime authorities and shipowners to reduce their overall waiting time by moving bunkering operations further offshore.
"The increased waiting time has a direct impact on vessels expecting to take bunkers in the Cristobal Inner Anchorage or when a vessel on the Atlantic side needs bunkers only calls. Therefore, we now see an increase in Atlantic Outer Anchorage fuel enquiries reflecting the time pressure and increased shipping costs that shipowners are currently facing," said Kristian Smith Hansen, Trading Director, Monjasa Americas.
"This Outer Anchorage marine fuels option has been developed in close collaboration with the Panama Canal Authority and we are pleased to play our part in ensuring the smoothest possible transits during these circumstances too."
The situation has improved in recent weeks, but the boost to outer anchorage bunkering may be much longer lived.
Indeed, while Monjasa notes that the backlog of vessels waiting to transit has fallen from around 165 to 125, compared to a more usual 90, the fourth quarter of the year is historically the busiest season for the Panama Canal.
As a result, overall waiting times are expected to increase during the coming months.
Looking to next year, experts have already warned that the start of 2024 may be even drier, resulting in near-record low water levels by April.
But even without low water levels, some operators are seeing benefit from bunkering at the outer anchorages.
"The option to bunker at Outer Anchorage at Cristobal solves potential challenges with bunkering at inner anchorage such as draft limitation, restricted anchorage space, and limited time for bunkering before transit. Furthermore, it also makes bunker-only calls at the Cristobal side more convenient," said Matias Engel, Hafnia Bunkers
John Llewellyn at Penfield Marine LLC also felt Outer Anchorage supply was "very important" for their operations.
"Not only is it right in the crosshairs of an important shipping lane, but our larger tankers can often not be accommodated at inner anchorage for bunkers."
