Panama Canal to raise container tolls 12%

The Panama Canal Authority will raise tolls on container ships by $9 per TEU in 2008 and another $9 per TEU in 2009 under a set of proposals for restructuring pricing and fees that was approved by its board of directors on Jan. 25 and published on Jan 26.

If the proposed increases are approved, they will come on top of the third stage of three increases on containers that is scheduled to take effect on May 1 of this year, which will bring the toll to $54 per TEU. Under the proposals, the toll will increase to $63 per TEU on May 1, 2008 and to $72 per TEU on May 1, 2009.

?f you take into account the fact that the proposal is a three-year proposal, the increase comes to about 12 percent per year,?said Rodolfo Sabonge, the director of corporate planning and marketing for the canal authority.

Sabonge said the container industry has requested stability in the pricing of tolls so it can plan ahead, which the proposal provides.

?t is a proposal and until we make a final decision we are open for feedback,?he said.

The authority is soliciting comments on the proposal through March 12 and will hold a public hearing March 14 in Balboa.

Under the proposals, tolls on general cargo, bulk, breakbulk, refrigerator ships, car carriers, and tankers will also increase, with a different increase for each of these segments. Unlike the tolls on container ships, which are now assessed per TEU, the tolls on these ships will continue to be assessed on the basis of the Panama Canal/ Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) net tonnage.

Tolls on larger passenger ships will be assessed differently under the proposal. Passenger ships that are larger than a certain size under a formula based on tonnage divided by the maximum passenger capacity will be charged per passenger berth rather than on the basis of PC/UMS tonnage. ?maller vessels will continue to be measured in PC/UMS tonnage,?Sabonge said.

The proposal for an increase in tolls and fees at the canal was expected following approval in a national referendum last October of the authority? $5.25-billion plan to build a third set of locks that can accommodate vessels twice the size of those that can presently transit the canal.

Sabonge said the authority has not decided how much of the new revenue that the higher tolls will generate will go to the expansion project. ?he general idea of the pricing strategy is to continue to provide the service, to continue modernizing the waterway and to have additional funds for the expansion,?he said.

The authority is starting the process of assessing the environmental impact of expansion. It is expanding the scope of the dredging program already underway in Gatun Lake to meet the requirements of the expansion plan, Sabonge said.

The authority also plans to issue requests for proposals next year to contactors bidding on the construction work and will also begin dry excavation for the third set of locks.

Sabonge said the authority might impose further increases after 2009. ?e have to take into consideration everything that is happening then. It? very difficult to forecast what might be happening.?