THE PROPOSED tolls released Monday January 5 by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) encouragesthe use of new locks to promote economies of scale with larger vessels while lowering costs for ships with smaller loads  using the current channel

The ACP says that the new structure reduces the cost when compared with current rates approved in 2011 reports La Prensa.

Estimates of the ACP in the Master Plan, the expanded Canal could accommodate vessels of up to 13,200 TEU(The Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit  a unit of cargo capacity used for  container ships))container ships and vessels up to 170,000 DWT (Dead Weight Tonnage, with certain limited drafts

The Panama Canal Authority said that a container ship carrying 8,000 units (80 percent of its capacity) will pay $780,000 under the proposed tolls. That amount under 2011 rates was $804,000.

According to estimates of the ACP in its Master Plan, the expanded Canal could serve ships carrying up to 13,200 containers and other ships carrying as much as 170,000 tons of cargo.

"The expansion has been well received by the maritime industry, and today there are 13,200 TEU vessels that have been designed taking into account the size of the expanded Canal," says the proposal.

The impact of enlargement will be evidenced in different market segments.

The Canal expansion will allow the transit of dry bulk vessels "Capesize4" and transit of liquid bulk vessels "Suezmax5". New markets as trade in liquefied natural gas ("LNG") through the Canal will open, and location of shipments of grain, coal and iron ore in larger vessels are expected.

the ACP began its program of expansion of the Panama Canal In September 2007, which includes the construction of two new sets of locks on the Atlantic and Pacific, which will double the current capacity of Canal 600 million PC / UMS tons (universal system of tonnage Panama Canal) and transit wider and longer vessels.

The Canal expansion will accommodate vessels with a length of 1,200 feet (366 m), beam of 160 feet (49 m) and draft of 50 feet (15.24 m) in tropical freshwater