From The Loadstar in the UK:

Despite the impending break-up of both the G6 and CKHYE alliances, both have announced plans to launch Asia-US east coast services, deploying neo-panamax vessels.

However, the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) this week warned carriers there were increasing concerns about the safety of maneuvring larger vessels in the new locks.

An ITF-commissioned study, by Brazil’s Fundação Homem de Mar (FHM), concluded that the locks’ dimensions are too small for safe operation (with both gates closed); that there are no refuge areas for tugboats inside the locks, leaving no room for failure (human error, miscommunication, broken lines or engine failure); that the bollard pull is insufficient and, as a result, manoeuvrability of the vessel was compromised in the locks under the average environmental conditions in Panama. In milder conditions the exercise was concluded safely, it added.


Read the rest at The Loadstar