Ships at Risk in New Panama Canal

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.”

Salas recognizes that the government and, most importantly, the people of Panama will benefit from increased ship traffic and revenue. But he is perplexed over the fact that the most experienced employees of the canal have been left out of the most important decisions regarding ship safety.

ACP Statement Regarding Panama Canal Pilots Union Comments

MarEx asked the ACP about Captain Salas’s comments, and it sent the following statement:
 
The ACP recognizes that its most valuable resource is its workforce. Decisions made by the Panama Canal Administration regarding the operation of the expanded Canal are not made arbitrarily. They take into consideration the very valuable opinion of its highly experienced workforce.
 
Culebra Cut 
 
Twenty years ago, Culebra Cut, the narrowest and most restrictive part of the entire waterway, maintained a width of 500 ft. and therefore only the transit of one Panamax vessel was allowed in one direction. The widening of Culebra Cut to 630 ft. was completed 12 years ago with the intention of allowing the passage of two Panamax-size vessels. Culebra Cut is currently being widened to 715 ft., which should allow two Post-Panamax vessels to navigate side by side through the Cut. 
 
Use of Tugboats
 
The use of tugboats for the transit of vessels is a known practice in canals around the world. The ACP has been investing in increasing its tugboat capacity to meet the growing demand of the expanded Panama Canal. For example, in just the last two years the ACP has purchased 14 state-of-the-art tugboats built in Europe at a cost of over $11 million each, which have been added to our existing, relatively young fleet.
 
We have high regard for the professionalism and skill of our pilots and remain confident that the training the ACP has determined to provide them will guarantee that they are adequately prepared to safely navigate the larger vessels through our new locks utilizing tugboats instead of locomotives.  
 
Training 
 
ACP pilots and tug boat captains are provided training utilizing state-of-the-art, real-time simulators at the Panama Canal's Center for Simulation, Research and Maritime Development (SIDMAR). Since 2012, Panama Canal pilots have been trained at SIDMAR using Post-Panamax model ships in preparation for the operation of the expanded Canal. Recently, the ACP unveiled an enhanced Post-Panamax vessel-training program that incorporates additional skill development tools, including scale-model live maneuvers and the chartering of a Post-Panamax vessel to begin real locks transits as soon as the first of the two Post-Panamax locks structures is completed. 
 
The Panama Canal has a labor force of more than 10,000 employees, who are represented by seven recognized labor organizations with exclusive rights to represent the workers before the Administration on labor-related issues. Workers are allowed to freely associate with any of the labor unions for their corresponding work areas. Our records indicate that at the end of August of this year, 2,152 workers (21.5 percent of our workforce) were affiliated with a labor union. Negotiations for the new collective agreement are underway, and all issues should be discussed at the negotiating table between the parties.

Tony Munoz is publisher and editor-in-chief of The Maritime Executive.