The Panama Maritime Authority has authorized that from now on recording of original ship mortgages will be done in English, without the need to submit translations into Spanish.
From a statement issued by the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP):
The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) has hit a new milestone for the Panamanian Merchant Marine, having registered the first ship mortgage in the English language.
AMP approved two of the four concessions that it was assessing yesterday, leaving two pending a resolution.
The Panamanian Maritime Authority (AMP) authorized the award of more than eight hectares to the Decal S.A. Company to build and operate a dock on the island of Taboguilla for fuel transshipment and also approved a five acre concession for Miramar Development Corp. to build a tourist marina in Avenida Balboa.
Compared to the 2007 record of 8 billion tons in transports, global maritime commerce fell substantially in 2008, dragged down by the crisis.
A good indication of this is the decrease in the Baltic Dry Index, which is composed of the prices of the maritime transportation of dry cargo. In November 2008, the index was 891 points while the index had reached 11,973 in May of that year - suffering in that period a fall of 11 times its value.
The ratification of the 2001 Bunker Convention by Panama will increase insurance costs for ships.
The "International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage," means that the owner of the ship is responsible for pollution damages caused by bunker fuel in the ship and for covering the cost of preventative measures.
According to the article on laestrella.com.pa: "...ships flying the Panama flag will need to have increased insurance coverage for oil pollution damage."
Operators from more than 20 countries will participate in the four day port event, considered to be the most important one in the region.
The inauguration will be held on February 8, 2009 and will include the presence of the Secretary General of the World Maritime Organization (OMI), Efthimios Mitropoulos, who will be the main speaker along with important local and international guest speakers from the shipping world.
In Panama they are planning to concession a port on the Pacific coast that specializes in handling agricultural products. Said port should be inaugurated in 2010.
The port will be built in Aguadulce, in the province of Cocle, 200 kilometers to the southeast of the capital, Fernando Solorzano, administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP), reported.
The cruise line requested two thousand marines to serve as crew for the next season.
The new season begins December 7 with the inauguration of the home port in Cristobal in the province of Colon.
The administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority, Fernando Solorzano, said that the main problem in responding to Royal Caribbean's request is finding personnel that are fluent in English.
Four companies allege to have requested the concession of an area of land and sea to build a dock at La Roca in Balboa.
Three weeks ago it was mentioned that three companies had requested the concession to develop the port infrastructure at the site; these were Trans Ibérica Terminal & Services, Talleres Industriales and Atlantic Pacific S.A.
However, last week Justino Gonzalez, a lawyer and journalist, stated in his capacity as legal representative of Port & Harbour Marine Services Corp. said that this company had also requested the concession in 2005 and that the AMP had not given them a reply.
To date, the board of directors of the Maritime Authority of Panama (AMP) has approved the process fr the concession of the Aguadulce port.
Bidding for this port will be done by PanamaCompra. The State, by way of AMP, started this new stage in order to offer concessions for some ports in the interior of the country that have not been developed due to lack of capital.
Grain handling is playing a stronger role in port management in Panama these days of high and rising food prices.
Experts in the field are recommending dedicated grain handling facilities so there is no chance of it being mixed with other products.
"The increase is prices is reviving the cultivation of cereal crops in high-productivity zones because it provides an export opportunity," said David Marcano of the Port of Santander in Spain.
The expansion of the Panama Canal will bring important changes to the logistics of the region, especially with respect to transshipments.
The president of the Latin American delegation of the American Asociation of Port Authorities (AAPA), Armando Duarte of Colombia, said, "The ports must evaluate and redefine their roles, adjusting competitively to the new situation."
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