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<\/p>\nThis month\u00a0marks the end of another\u00a0record-breaking year at the Panama Canal\u00a0\u2013\u00a0no simple feat\u00a0\u2013\u00a0given the\u00a0challenges it faced, from global supply chain disruptions to the continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy.\u00a0Behind the\u00a0waterway\u2019s\u00a0uninterrupted service\u00a0stood\u00a0a\u00a0world-class team, who\u00a0worked\u00a0tirelessly\u00a0to\u00a0ensure\u00a0the waterway\u00a0remained\u00a0safe and\u00a0prepared for\u00a0whatever the\u00a0future\u00a0may have in store for it next.<\/p>\n
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To\u00a0celebrate the end of the year, Panama Canal leaders were asked to\u00a0reflect on\u00a0the\u00a0waterway\u2019s top achievements\u00a0from the past year, as well\u00a0as what\u00a0they have in store for 2022.<\/p>\n
Operations<\/strong><\/p>\n Although\u00a0global trade began its resurgence in 2021, the Panama Canal\u00a0kept\u00a0its\u00a0operations teams as agile as possible,\u00a0given the\u00a0pandemic\u2019s unpredictable impacts on traffic thus far.\u00a0The team made\u00a0prompt\u00a0adjustments to accommodate the\u00a0unprecedented surge in demand.\u00a0In February, the Canal modified its transit reservation system and\u00a0other maritime\u00a0services\u00a0to adapt its service\u00a0and better\u00a0manage its capacity in the face of\u00a0fast-growing\u00a0market conditions.\u00a0The Canal also began offering an auction booking slot for the Panamax and\u00a0Neopanamax\u00a0Locks to help alleviate waiting times and\u00a0offer additional booking options and flexibility for\u00a0customers.<\/p>\n By October, the Panama Canal celebrated a record-breaking year of transits. \u201cOur achievements in 2021 were made possible by our team\u2019s\u00a0dedication to\u00a0understanding our\u00a0customer\u2019s\u00a0shifting\u00a0needs. As they shifted, we\u00a0listened and\u00a0evolved<\/span>\u00a0our service accordingly,\u00a0while\u00a0continuing to keep\u00a0health and safety\u00a0as\u00a0a top priority,\u201d\u00a0said Ilya Espino de Marotta, Deputy Administrator of the Panama Canal.\u00a0\u201cWe look forward to accommodating even more transits for our\u00a0customers\u00a0in the\u00a0New\u00a0Year, with containership,\u00a0liquefied natural gas\u00a0and\u00a0liquefied petroleum gas\u00a0transits already expected to\u00a0drive growth in 2022.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Sustainability\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Accelerating\u00a0the Panama Canal\u2019s\u00a0transition to carbon neutrality will also be a key priority\u00a0across the waterway\u2019s teams\u00a0in the coming year, building off\u00a0the waterway\u2019s\u00a0fast-growing\u00a0sustainability\u00a0initiatives.\u00a0In just the past year,\u00a0the waterway\u00a0launched its\u00a0<\/span>CO2 Emissions\u00a0Savings\u00a0Dashboard<\/span>,\u00a0a tool for calculating\u00a0the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions saved by vessels that transit the<\/span> Panama Canal,\u00a0compared to\u00a0the most likely alternative route, which found that vessels\u00a0saved\u00a0more than 13 million tons of CO2 emissions\u00a0by opting for the Panama Canal route\u00a0in 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n This past year, the Panama Canal also signed the\u00a0Call to Action for Shipping Decarbonization with 150 maritime organizations, contributed to the\u00a0UN Global Compact\u2019s\u202fCharting a 1.5 C Trajectory for Maritime Transport, and\u00a0gave a presentation on\u00a0sustainable maritime routes\u00a0at\u00a02021 United Nations Climate Change Conference\u00a0(COP26).<\/p>\n In 2022, the waterway\u00a0will advance its\u00a0to becoming carbon neutral by 2030, with plans already underway to invest roughly $2.4 billion in modernizing its equipment and infrastructure to meet this commitment.\u00a0For the operations team, initial next steps include\u00a0adopting\u00a010 hybrid tugboats, with\u00a0the option of purchasing another 10, which\u00a0will reduce\u00a0tugboat operational carbon emissions\u00a0by\u00a020 percent.\u00a0The Canal will\u00a0also\u00a0introduce a fleet of electric vehicles, among other measures.<\/p>\n \u201cOur goal is to\u00a0begin\u00a0a series of investments that\u00a0maximize the value we can offer our community,\u00a0customers\u00a0and world as a\u00a0green\u00a0route and corridor for world trade,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Victor Vial, Vice President of Finance. \u201cBy fortifying\u00a0our\u00a0infrastructure, technology and equipment, we can\u00a0meet this challenge\u00a0and ensure we\u00a0continue to deliver the safe, efficient and reliable service we have been delivering for over 100 years.\u201d<\/p>\n Infrastructure\u00a0& Engineering<\/strong><\/p>\n Maintaining and modernizing the infrastructure of the Canal is\u00a0no small mission.\u00a0Over 100 maintenance projects\u00a0are conducted in a typical year\u00a0to preserve\u00a0infrastructure and equipment.<\/p>\n To\u00a0proactively plan, monitor and execute projects more efficiently,\u00a0Miguel Lorenzo, Vice President of Infrastructure and Engineering\u00a0and his team spent the past few months reviewing and optimizing the waterway\u2019s investment portfolio to determine new ways to carry out\u00a0equipment acquisition, improvement and replacement projects.\u00a0According to\u00a0Mr. Lorenzo,\u00a02021 marked the start of a series of\u00a0organizational changes that will\u00a0\u201cfundamentally\u00a0change\u201d\u00a0the way the Canal\u2019s physical assets are managed\u00a0over the coming years, with landmark investments planned for 2022 that will\u00a0guarantee the long-term sustainability\u00a0of the Canal.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are carrying out exhaustive evaluations of the conditions of our infrastructure, especially the oldest, to define the needs of attention in the short, medium and long term,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cIn parallel with this, we will be evaluating and executing those projects that aim to maintain the\u00a0Canal\u2019s social and environmental license, especially those aligned with our declaration of being a neutral entity in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.\u201d<\/p>\n Digital Transformation\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The design and implementation of\u00a0the\u00a0Panama Canal\u00b4s digital transformation\u00a0vision and high-level roadmap\u00a0was another strategic\u00a0endeavor\u00a0in\u00a02021\u00a0that will continue into the coming years.\u00a0According to\u00a0Antonio C\u00f3rdoba, Vice President of Digital Transformation,\u00a0\u201cgoing\u00a0digital\u201d\u00a0is\u00a0essential\u00a0for the Canal\u00a0as\u00a0it will\u00a0\u201cevolve our organization to a new stage of innovation and will keep us relevant, transparent, and successful.\u201d<\/p>\n As part of this initial process,\u00a0Mr.\u00a0C\u00f3rdoba\u00a0and\u00a0his\u00a0team\u00a0completed the following: priorities determination and digital breach analysis,\u00a0new ways of working to be adopted, the data and analytics roadmap, the people and cultural transformation journey, among other components of the overall Digital Transformation strategy.\u00a0\u201cWe also defined,\u00a0at high level, our internal IT evolution journey,\u00a0which\u00a0will allow us to support the organization in\u00a0our\u00a0acceleration towards the digital future.\u201d<\/p>\n Moving forward, the team\u00a0anticipates\u00a0a strong focus on scaling its\u00a0organizational agility, as well as\u00a0a\u00a0move towards new digitalized and improved processes. These shifts\u00a0will\u00a0then\u00a0bring\u00a0increased\u00a0operational efficiency at all levels.\u00a0\u201cAn\u00a0incremental usage of data in ways we\u00a0had\u00a0never before, thanks to new technologies we are implementing, will allow the organization to discover new business insights, improve precision in forecasting and predictability, and make better data driven decisions\u00a0in 2022,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Mr.\u00a0Cordoba.\u00a0\u201cWe will prioritize\u00a0updating\u00a0our IT baseline infrastructure and systems, in\u00a0a\u00a0sustainable and consistent way, to be able to face the new era of transformation and technology changes.\u201d<\/p>\n Water<\/strong><\/p>\n The Panama Canal is also\u00a0advancing\u00a0investments that will redefine its water\u00a0use\u00a0for the\u00a0next 50 years, while making steady progress in the short-term.<\/p>\n A year after introducing water measures, the Panama Canal offered a maximum draft of 50 feet at the Neopanamax Locks in 2021, the highest allowed at the waterway. Achieved through effective water management and an increase in rainfall, the higher draft ultimately increased the waterway\u2019s capacity to maneuver larger and heavier vessels, a trend expected to continue in 2022.<\/p>\n The Panama Canal,\u00a0meanwhile,\u00a0made progress on\u00a0its search for a\u00a0long-term water solution, reaching\u00a0an agreement\u00a0in November\u00a0with the US Corps of Engineering (USACE) for developing an economically justified and environmentally sustainable\u00a0integrated water resource management plan.\u00a0John D. Langman, Vice President of Water Projects, confirmed that the plan will cover \u201cspecific measures to maximize the yield of water resources within the\u00a0Panama Canal\u00a0watershed and potentially includes complementary solutions integrated from outside of the Canal\u00b4s watershed, resulting in increased operational reliability and resiliency of the system.\u201d\u00a0He added that the agreement\u00a0will also encompass\u00a0\u201ca recognition, feasibility studies, and tender support phases to prepare design build solicitations for the solutions selected, as well as capacity building\u00a0throughout\u00a0the process.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2022,\u00a0Mr.\u00a0Langman and his\u00a0Panama Canal\u00a0team will work alongside\u00a0USACE experts\u00a0to advance\u00a0project management, engineering, hydrologic, water quality and other\u00a0elements\u00a0during the recognition and feasibility phases related to the reached agreement.<\/p>\n Strategic Vision\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Measures to secure water in 2021 also offered invaluable lessons that will be applied in the coming year.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter implementing the\u00a0freshwater\u00a0surcharge and\u00a0hearing from\u00a0customers\u00a0over the past few months, we recognized the value of\u00a0offering a\u00a0dynamic price, based on market,\u201d said\u00a0the Panama Canal Administrator,\u00a0Ricaurte V\u00e1squez Morales. \u201cWe are therefore working with our\u00a0customers\u00a0to\u00a0develop a new simplified pricing strategy that\u00a0provides\u00a0them more\u00a0visibility and\u00a0transparency\u00a0while also safeguarding the\u00a0competitiveness of\u00a0our route.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the Administrator, \u201ctransparency and\u00a0close communication with\u00a0customers\u00a0from\u00a0across the Panama Canal\u2019s team\u00a0proved essential to\u00a0the\u00a0waterway\u2019s overall\u00a0success in 2021.\u00a0At the end of the day, our legacy\u00a0depends on our ability to\u00a0sustainably create, capture,\u00a0and render value for our\u00a0customers, which we can only achieve together.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pancanal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/CanalConnection-Diciembre2021-2.jpeg\")
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<\/p>\nAbout the Panama Canal<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe Panama Canal Authority\u00a0is an autonomous legal entity of the Republic of Panama in charge of the operation, administration, management, preservation, maintenance, and modernization of the Panama Canal, as well as its activities and related services, so that the Canal may operate in a safe, continuous, efficient\u00a0manner.\u00a0For more information, please refer to the Canal\u2019s website:\u00a0https:\/\/www.pancanal.com<\/a>\u00a0or follow us on Twitter @thepanamacanal.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"