Panama Canal revenue hits record high in fiscal year 2008

PANAMA CITY, (Xinhua) -- The Panama Canal's income hit a record high of 2.007 billion U.S. dollars in the 2008 fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, Panama Canal Authority said on Friday.
 

The figure represented a growth of 14 percent from the 1.76 billion dollars in fiscal 2007.
 

The canal authority said the canal had put up a good performance despite the impact of the world financial crisis.
 

Vice President of Canal Operation Manuel Benites said the canal saw an increase in passenger vessel transits from 205 to 241, up 17.6 percent.

According to the canal authority, more time is needed now for ships to cross the 80-km canal. Including waiting time, it now takes the ships 31.55 hours on average to pass the waterway, a 13.3-percent increase from the previous 27.84 hours.

The canal authority said that was because the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores floodgates in the Canal were under maintenance.

Meanwhile, the number of accidents fell from 1.09 to 0.68 for every 1,000 transits, said Benites.