Panama Canal hits new record marks

• Recording to statistics of the Authority of the Panama Canal (ACP), the fiscal year 2007 closed with a total of 312.758.530 tons PC/ UMS (Panama Canal / Universal Measurement System), which means an increase of 5% compared to the registered tons of the fiscal year 2006.

• The Panama Canal, 93 years in use, realizes ongoing improvements on their existing structures and processes to attend the growing demand with the aim to generate a maximum degree of benefits for the Panamanians.

• At the end of the fiscal year 2007, the total of the transits is 14.721 ships, which signify an increase of 3,7% compared to the 14.194 transits reported in 2006.

• In its last mess of the fiscal year 2007, which includes the 30^th of September, the ACP also registered other records like the transit in one single day (19^th of September) with 43 ships carrying 1.113.682 tons PC/UMS, which beated the old record of 1.072.353 tons (6^th of march 2007).

• The same 19^th of September, another records has been marked: in one single day 25 ships of the Panamax-class, with a broadness of more than 30 m each, crossed the Panama Canal, which beated the old record of 24 ships (July 2006)

Season of the Cruisers

• The cruiser season in Panama is from October to May.

• The cruiser season 2007/2008 will bring about 450.000 tourists and crew-members on board of approximately 235 ships which signify an income of about US-$ 47 million

• The predictions for this eighth season ending in March 2008 base on the port-bookings of the luxury cruisers at the cruiser ports of Panama like Colón 2000 and Cristóbal in the Caribbean Sea and Fuerte Amador and Marina in the Pacific.

• The cruiser port Fuerte Amador is expecting the arrival of 35 ships with tourists whereas the port Cristobal expects 115 cruisers and the pacific ports 190 ships.

• In December 2008 the port Colón 2000 will be the home port of the cruiser company “Royal Caribbean”.

• Carnival, Celebrity, Holland, Princess and Royal Caribbean are the main users of the cruiser ports de Panama.