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Panama Canal Authority announces proposed LNG tolls
http://www.icis.com/resources/news/2015/01/07/9851299/panama-canal-authority-announces-proposed-lng-tolls/
07 January 2015

The Panama Canal Authority has released the proposed LNG tolls to take effect following its expansion which will allow LNG tankers through the passage and for the first time directly between the US Gulf and Asia.

The expanded canal locks are expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2016.

The canal authority has created a tiered rate system, based on the cubic metre capacity of the vessel, both on a ballast and laden basis. This differs from tariffs set at the competing Suez Canal, which is based on net tonnage and varies between Moss and membrane-type vessels.

Fees are tiered to cover the first 60,000cbm of LNG aboard the vessel, with two subsequent tiers of 30,000cbm in volume, and a final tier to cover the remainder.

For one example, it will cost $380,480 for a 173,000cbm fully laden vessel to transit the canal for one way. If the same size carrier were ballast, it would cost $334,830.

A discount would apply if the laden vessel goes through the canal once and then returns to make its ballast trip through the canal within 60 days, so a round-trip estimate through the canal twice would equal $680,480, after applying an additional ballast of $300,000.

According to an estimate by the consultancy Wood Mackenzie, this would mean a shipping cost of about $1.75/MMBtu from the US Gulf to Japan through the Panama Canal. This assumed a dual fuel diesel electric propulsion vessel of about 174,000cbm traveling at 19 knots an hour and with a charter rate of $70,000/day. This compared with Wood Mackenzie’s estimated shipping cost of just above $2.50/MMBtu from the US to Japan around the Cape of Good Hope.