Panama Canal | Fewer Panamax Slots from 15 September

14 September, 2026 – From 15 September, daily Panamax booking slots at the Panama Canal will be reduced from 25 to 23, while Neopanamax remains at 9 slots per day.

Lower daily capacity may increase waiting times for vessels arriving without a confirmed booking. For upcoming transits, timing matters.

What you need to know

• Panamax: 23 booking slots per day, down from 25.
• Neopanamax: 9 booking slots per day.
• A confirmed reservation remains the only way to guarantee a transit date.
• Temporary Neopanamax booking measures allow more than one slot for the same booking date and bookings on consecutive dates.
• 63 Neopanamax reservation slots per week remain available, including LoTSA and NetZero allocations.
• Swaps, vessel substitutions and booking-date changes remain available under the revised booking rules.

Neopanamax draft

The maximum authorised Neopanamax draft remains at 14.63 m / 48 ft TFW.

The planned reduction to 14.48 m / 47.5 ft TFW has been postponed until 1 October.

YOUR VESSELS, OUR PORTS 

In Panama, MasOceans works with CAPAS EEV, CORP. – Shipping Agency, bringing strong local commitment and direct operational support to vessel calls and Canal transit planning across:

 Bahía Las Minas (Terminal Granelera & Chevron), Colón 2000, Colón Container Terminal, Oil Tanking, Manzanillo International Terminal, Melones Oil Terminal, PPC Balboa & Drydock MEC, PATSA & POTSA, PPC Cristóbal & Telfer Tanks, PSA, PTP Charco Azul, PTP Chiriquí Grande and Taboquilla.

For your next vessel call or Panama Canal transit, please contact our Commercial Director, Martaxelle Erussard:

 martaxelle@masoceans.com
 +41 (0) 79 658 1504 / +41 (0) 22 552 0051

Source: Panama Canal Authority