The longest queue time is 12 days, and 126 cargo ships are currently forced to wait for release

In response to the backlog of ships, the Panama Canal Authority organized a "queue-jumping" auction for shipowners who wanted to pass through the canal as soon as possible, allowing them to bid for the right to pass the canal. In the latest auction in November, a Japanese energy company paid a "queue-jumping fee" of US$3.975 million (approximately RMB 29 million) to purchase a liquefied petroleum gas carrier to obtain priority rights of passage in the Panama Canal. Coupled with hundreds of thousands of yuan in regular transportation fees, the comprehensive cost may have exceeded 30 million yuan. After paying a huge fee, the ship will pass through the Panama Canal on the 15th.

Public information shows that about 26% of the Panama Canal’s annual transportation business involves bulk commodities such as liquefied petroleum gas and liquefied natural gas. The Panama Canal Authority said the highest bidders at auctions are usually LPG or LNG carriers.

Shipbrokers predict record prices at the upcoming auction. Liquefied natural gas is an important energy commodity exported by the United States to various parts of the world, especially Asia. Due to high shipping costs and elusive transit times, more and more U.S. LNG shippers are choosing to sail an extra two weeks and nearly 6,000 nautical miles to reach Asia, bypassing the Suez Canal or the Cape of Good Hope. This also leads to insufficient market capacity and freight rates.