The Aegean Unity, a Suezmax size vessel, is carrying a partial oil cargo across the Panama Canal today, the first Suezmax to make the move since transit of vessels that size became possible after completion of the Canal's expansion on 26 June.
"This is the first [Suezmax]. We have had mostly full containerships, LNGs, LPGs and vehicle carriers", the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) told Argus, adding that the Aegean Unity is moving from the Pacific to the Atlantic.
Baere Maritime chartered the 2016-built Aegean Unity to move crude from the west coast of Panama to the Bahamas, according to multiple shipbrokers, but the tanker was not filled to capacity.
"There's definitely some room on board", said a shipping source. "[The tanker was loaded] close to the current maximum draft of 44ft, so as laden as you can go through at the moment", he said.
The ship's current draft is 42.7ft, according to vessel tracking data, slightly under the 13.41m (44ft) restriction announced by ACP on 5 August.
In addition to draft restrictions inhibiting Suezmax traffic through the expanded Canal, inconvenient mooring arrangements for tankers have limited the number of Suezmaxes capable of moving through.
"A lot of the existing tankers do not have the required mooring arrangements to comply with the [expanded] canal", said the shipping source.
The Canal was expanded primarily with the goal of increasing containership traffic and movement of LNG and LPG cargoes. As such, the bollards at the expanded canal that are used for mooring are positioned to accommodate containerships, not tankers, said one Connecticut-based shipping analyst.
Shipowners would have to retrofit older vessels to adjust the position of their chocks, which are wedges that prevent a vessel from moving when moored, said the analyst.
