As part of the Transit Booking System, the Panama Canal introduced a Long-Term Slot Allocation (LoTSA) Method for Neopanamax vessels. With this new measure, Panama Canal aims to increase transit certainty and flexibility for its clients.

Currently, the Transit Booking System slot offering is done daily with an anticipation period before the required transit date.

Through this method, Panama Canal explains that several transit booking slot packages corresponding to January of the following year will be offered to different market segments, meaning a single client can obtain multiple bookings in one transaction.

Each package will include a specific number of slots with weekly or monthly frequency per year for northbound and southbound transits. These packages and their characteristics will be announced through the Booking Slot Projected Availability published on the website pancanal.com and awarded to the highest bidder through an auction.

The auction amount of the sealed bid will refer to the maximum amount the customer is willing to pay for each slot included in the package with a starting base of US$200,000.

These are divided into: Period 1 (for bookings 90 days before transit) / Period 1A (for bookings from 30 to 15 days) / Period 2 (for bookings between 14 and 8 days) / Period 3 (for bookings from 7 to 2 days). The LoTSA method is added to these with availability within the various slot packages. The auctions will be held starting September 2, 2024, before booking dates beginning January 5, 2025, through January 3, 2026.