Panama Canal: upgraded deck and mooring equipment now required

Autoridad del Canal de Panama (ACP) officially unveiled the expanded Panama Canal on 26 June 2016 following a nine year planning and development project.

The third set of locks now permit vessels up to 344m LOA and 49m beam-to-transit through the route if they are fitted with higher working load deck chocks, bollards and rollers that comply with the new ACP regulations.

Fendercare Marine, in response to these new regulations, design, manufacture and stock this higher-rated mooring and towing equipment to enable ship owners and ship management companies to incorporate into new builds or retrofit larger vessels to be able to now make use of this new option trading route. These Neo-Panamax container vessels, crude tankers and bulkers can now transit through the canal but it is the LNG sector that has most to gain, with the reduction of time and operational costs for the Asia route being considerable.

Manufactured to be compliant to MSC1175 negates the requirement to attain class approval (although Fendercare can provide class third party inspection options for clients if required). In addition, the regulations encompass the change to fibre mooring lines to replace existing steel wire ropes to ensure full compliance.

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