Panama Canal to Shortlist Terminal Bidders by Year-End as $8.5bn Push Advances

The Panama Canal expects to name pre-qualified bidders for two new container terminals by the end of this year, Administrator Ilya Espino said on Wednesday, moving an $8.5 billion expansion plan into its formal tender stage.

Speaking at the Houston International Maritime Conference, Espino said the canal authority has already evaluated initial proposals. Shortlisted companies will next receive a request for proposals, pushing the project toward a more structured bidding round.

She declined to identify the pre-qualified firms. But global shipping heavyweights such as Maersk and MSC, which already operate ports in Panama, could emerge as bidders, she noted.

The two terminals sit at the center of a broader strategy: turning the canal from a pure shipping passage into a larger logistics and energy hub. The plan also includes a proposed $4 billion to $8 billion pipeline to move liquefied petroleum gas, and the terminals themselves are expected to attract another $2.6 billion in investment.

Under the current timetable, concessions could be awarded around mid-2027, with operations starting in 2030 or 2031. Espino said the canal is already beginning to plan a third terminal project.

Why is Panama adding capacity now?

Existing trans-shipment capacity in Panama is tight, which underpins the expansion push. Carriers and forwarders routing boxes through Panama face limited terminal options today, and the new concessions would open slots just as trans-shipment demand concentrates on the corridor.

Energy players have shown early interest in the wider expansion program. The canal has named ENEOS, Energy Transfer, Exxon Mobil, Enterprise Products Partners, Chevron, Phillips, Targa Resources and ONEOK among the companies that flagged interest in the projects — a roster that signals the LPG pipeline element is drawing as much attention as the box business.

What's happening with transits and drafts?

The freshwater-operated canal has imposed draft and passage restrictions this year in anticipation of a strong El Niño pattern, which typically cuts rainfall in Panama. That has commercial consequences for owners: the highest amount paid this year by a single ship to secure a transit hit $5.2 million, Espino said.

The canal has recently changed its booking and auction systems to balance demand across vessel segments while protecting water resources, and it continues to roll out options to avoid the long waits that drive up passage costs.

"We're hoping the worst we go in the dry season is 32 (vessels authorized per day), as far as slots," Espino said. "People value more spaces than draft, when you have to balance between one and the other, because then more clients have opportunity to make a reservation."

The current passage limit is 33 ships per day. Maximum authorized vessel draft could still be adjusted in coming months depending on rainfall, she added — a variable owners of laden panamaxes will watch closely.

Has LNG traffic recovered?

Not fully. The canal now handles about three LNG vessels per week, well below the two LNG ships per day that transited before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"We have been very resilient in a very volatile world," Espino said. Due to the Ukraine-Russia war, the LNG market "disappeared from the canal" and is now starting to come back, she added.

The rerouting of LNG flows since 2022 has stripped the canal of one of its highest-value segments, and the slow recovery means auction premiums and slot competition remain skewed toward container and tanker traffic.

What's the transit outlook?

The waterway expects 10,750 deep-draft transits this fiscal year, which ends in September 2027, according to Espino. That is below the 12,636 transits recorded in the previous fiscal year — a decline that frames both the capacity restrictions and the commercial case for diversifying into terminals, energy infrastructure and logistics services.

With the bidder shortlist due within weeks, terminal operators and energy majors now face a decision window: commit capital to Panama's corridor economics, or watch rivals lock in concessions running from 2030-31 onward.