Pilot slowdown jams Panama Canal traffic - Toronto Star

A work slowdown by pilots who guide ships through the Panama Canal is causing unprecedented delays and creating a costly bottleneck for shipping companies, canal employees and shippers say.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Some 250 Panama Canal pilots, who take charge of all vessels while they travel between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, want a pay raise and formal work contracts, and are protesting by giving only limited help to clear gridlocks in the busy trade route.

With around 5 per cent of global trade passing through Panama, scores of vessels laden with containers are stretching out off the coast of Panama City, waiting to enter the canal

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Pilots' protest holds up shipping in Panama Canal

May 2008

A protest by pilots who guide ships through the Panama Canal is causing unprecedented delays and bottlenecks in the waterway, according to reports from workers and shipping companies.

Some 250 canal pilots are going slow to push for higher wages and formal contracts.
Nearly 5 percent of world trade passes through the canal, but long lines of ships are building up on the coasts of Panama awaiting passage.

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The Panama canal is struggling to control major congestion as transit times nearly double to a record 53 hours, while this week’s backlog averaged 93 vessels. Queues have eased little from their peak in March, when 119 vessels waited as long as eight days to transit the major trade artery.

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Said the company: "Notification of the contract was given by the Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP), and will secure work for the next four years. The upgrading of the Panama Canal will significantly enhance international trade and navigation (post Panamax vessels), and will include construction of two major complexes of maritime locks – the design of which was developed in the past months by Belgian engineering firms."

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