Panama Canal to Name Shortlisted Bidders for Two New Container Terminals by Year-End
The Panama Canal expects to announce the pre-qualified bidders for a project to build and operate two new container terminals by the end of this year, Canal Administrator Ilya Espino said on November 4 at the Houston International Maritime Conference, advancing a tender linked to one of the world's most strategic trade corridors. Espino said the canal authority has evaluated initial proposals, and the shortlisted companies will next receive a formal request for proposals.
The new terminals are part of a broader $8.5 billion expansion plan aimed at turning the Panama Canal into a larger logistics and energy hub beyond its role as a shipping passage. The canal has said the two container terminals are expected to attract another $2.6 billion in investment, and the plan also includes a proposed liquefied petroleum gas pipeline estimated at $4 billion to $8 billion. Espino said the authority is also beginning to plan a third terminal project. She did not elaborate on the pre-qualified companies, but said global shipping heavyweights such as Maersk and MSC, which already operate ports in Panama, could be potential bidders.
Under the current timetable, concessions could be awarded around mid-2027, with operations starting in 2030 or 2031. Companies that showed early interest in the expansion projects include Eneos, Energy Transfer, Exxon Mobil, Enterprise Products Partners, Chevron, Phillips 66, Targa Resources and ONEOK, the canal has said.
Espino also described current operations: the passage limit is 33 ships per day; the waterway expects 10,750 deep-draft transits this fiscal year ending in September 2027, below the 12,636 transits of the previous fiscal year; and the highest amount paid this year by a ship to secure a transit reached $5.2 million. She said the canal hopes to keep at least 32 daily slots even in the worst of the dry season. Liquefied natural gas traffic is running at about three vessels per week, still below the roughly two LNG ships per day that transited before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but starting to return.
Source: Reuters
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：巴拿马运河太平洋一侧的 Balboa 港集装箱码头。Carlos J. Ramirez 摄，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 3.0。 / Photo: The container terminal at the Port of Balboa on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal. Photo by Carlos J. Ramirez, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
