Cruise Line Pays Exorbitant Fee For Panama Canal Passage
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(panamarealestateinvestment.org) Disney Cruise Lines paid the extremely high fee of $283,400 for one of its cruise ships to cross the Panama Canal in May. Cruise lines and tankers are willing to pay increasingly higher fees to avoid the transportation time and costs associated with transporting goods over land or around South America. Slots for non-reserved ships are sold at auction, and help avoid the long waiting period that has recently become common at the canal. These fees are in addition to the standard fees for ships crossing the canal, which are determined by the weight of the ship. The fee paid by the Disney Magic on May 16, while one of the highest ever paid, does not hold this record. Three container ships recently paid a $313,000 fee each for passage through the canal. The Disney Magic is based in Canaveral, Florida, and has voyages between Florida and Los Angeles, with the Panama Canal passage a major draw for passengers.
These increases in fees come amid a slowdown in overall traffic at the canal. The current delay for vessels is now 36 – 48 hours, which is down from a peak of nearly 10 days a few months ago. The average time it takes to cross the canal has also been decreased since March, from over 50 hours transit time to 20 hours. The total number of ships traveling through the canal has decreased 2% in the first three months of 2008, while tonnage dropped 2.3%.
According to the Panama Canal Authority, the decrease in transit time can be partially attributed to making the passage process more efficient. The decrease in transportation through the canal may be attributed to several factors, including the slowdown in the US economy and decline of the US dollar.
Sources:
US cruise ship pays fortune to cross Panama (Reuters.com)
