The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) plans to implement a new vessel scheduling and resource management system over the next two years.
Panama Canal administrator Jorge Quijano says investment in the new system comes in response to more transits as a result of the newer locks on the canal.
The authority said a daily tonnage record was set last month as some 1,180 vessels used both the old and new locks on the Canal.
ACP said some 850 neo-panamax vessels have transited the new locks since their opening last year. Just over half of the containerised cargo moving through the Canal is also using the new locks.
Quijano says the new system aims to lower costs, and improve safety and efficiency in the canal. The new system, designed by a unit of France's Dassault Systems, will integrate planning and operations for tugboats, pilots and line handlers.
“This system will help . . . us to tap the potential of technology to provide better solutions for our customers as we increasingly manage more transits and adapt to shifts in global trade,” Quijano said.
The new technology will also benefit canal customers, including shippers, by shortening vessel waiting times, increasing the number of potentially available vessel slots each day and improving the overall reliability of the route.
The new system will be fully integrated into canal operations over the course of the next two years, with the module responsible for managing the canal’s vessel scheduling expected to be operational by the end of the fiscal year in September 2017.
