Cruise

Panama Canal publishes proposal to modify tolls structure for passenger ships

Baird Maritime

The Panama Canal Authority has published a proposal that modifies the waterway's toll structure and the admeasurement regulations for passenger ships.

The proposal eliminates the billing unit on a per berth basis and reinstates the tolls based on PC/UMS (Panama Canal Universal Measurement System) capacity.

"With this modification, the tolls are based on PC/UMS capacity, which has historically been used in the waterway," said Panama Canal Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez Morales.

The complete proposal is available at www.pancanal.com/peajes. With the publication of this proposal, the public consultation period is open until October 1, 2021 at 16:15 local time, during which the industry is invited to review and comment on the proposal for consideration.

The public hearing is scheduled for October 5, 2021, for the first time in virtual format, following health and safety protocols.

The modifications will go into effect on February 1, 2022. The last modification to the toll structure for passenger ships was implemented on April 1, 2016.