> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.lacaribenanews.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # A Ship Paid US$5.3 Million to Cross the Panama Canal. Three of the Day's Thirty-Four Places Are Sold That Way. - URL: https://www.lacaribenanews.com/panama-canal-slot-auction-record-allocation-2026/ - Published: 2026-08-30T18:22:18.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-13T05:15:00.000Z - Description: SK Gas paid a record US$5.3 million on 25 August for one Panama Canal slot for the LPG carrier G. Spirit. Canal Authority advisories cut daily transits to 34 from 4 September and 32 from 15 September. - Author: Theon Alleyne - Tags: Trade, Business, Analysis **Quick summary:** SK Gas paid a record US$5.3 million on 25 August for a single Panama Canal slot for the LPG carrier G. Spirit, beating a US$4.6 million record set the same month. Canal Authority advisories cut daily transits to 34 from 4 September and 32 from 15 September, of which three are auctioned. By La Caribeña News · 30 August 2026 The Panama Canal will run 34 ships a day from 4 September, and 32 a day from 15 September. Three of those places are sold at auction. On 25 August, one of them went for US$5.3 million. ## What did SK Gas actually buy? One crossing, on one day, for one ship. South Korea's SK Gas agreed a record **US$5.3 million** for a single transit slot for its liquefied petroleum gas carrier **G. Spirit**, booked to cross on **1 September**. Bloomberg, [gCaptain](https://gcaptain.com/panama-canal-auction-hits-new-record-at-5-3-million/?ref=lacaribenanews.com), [the Maritime Executive](https://maritime-executive.com/article/korean-lpg-carrier-sets-record-with-5-3m-panama-canal-slot-auction?ref=lacaribenanews.com) and Marine Insight all carried the figure. It broke a record set **earlier in the same month**, when SK Shipping paid **US$4.6 million**. Two records inside four weeks, both to South Korean gas carriers. The sum buys no cargo, no vessel and no fuel. It buys a place in a queue. ## How many places are there? Thirty-four a day, falling to thirty-two, and the Canal Authority publishes the split. [Advisory to Shipping No. A-29-2026](https://pancanal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/ADV-29-2026-Additional-Measures-to-Address-Reduced-Precipitation-in-the-Canal-Watershed.pdf?ref=lacaribenanews.com), issued on 20 August and signed by Vice President for Operations Boris Moreno Vásquez, sets nine daily slots at the Neopanamax Locks and 25 at the Panamax Locks for booking dates from **4 September**. That is 34\. From **15 September** the Panamax figure drops to 23, taking the total to **32**. The advisory then divides those slots by how far ahead a ship books. The Special Period runs 730 to 366 days out. Long Term Slot Allocation is more than 90 days. Period 1 is 90 to 31 days, Period 1A is 30 to 15, Period 2 is 14 to 8. The last tier, Period 3, is 7 to 2 days out. That is the auction, and it holds **one Neopanamax slot, one Super and one Regular**. Three places out of 34\. After 15 September, three out of 32. A shipper who can plan two years ahead books in the Special Period. A shipper who needs to cross next week bids against everyone else who does. ## Why is the water the reason? Because the canal spends fresh water to move a ship, and there is less of it. A-29-2026 puts the numbers on the record. Across the current hydrological year, May to August, cumulative rainfall over the canal watershed has been **34 per cent below the historical average**. Watershed inflows have been **44 per cent below** theirs. The Authority writes that this reflects "a substantially reduced hydrologic response despite the onset of the rainy season", and that the forecast severity of the 2026-2027 El Niño could cut precipitation and runoff further. It names the concern: water availability in the **2027 dry season**, January to April. [This newspaper reported on 6 August that Panama had cut the canal's loading limit four times in nine weeks](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/panama-canal-draft-cuts-el-nino-caribbean-shipping-2026/), taking the maximum draft to 47.5 feet from 3 September. A-29-2026 moves that schedule. The 48.0 foot limit due on 26 August is postponed to **2 September**, and the 47.5 foot limit due on 3 September is postponed to **1 October**. That is a reprieve on depth bought by a reduction in numbers. Fewer ships, each still carrying more, for another month. [Forecasters have put a 69 per cent chance on a record El Niño](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/noaa-puts-a-69-chance-on-a-record-el-nino-the-last-comparable-one-cut-guyanas-rice-crop-by-37/), which is the event the Authority is managing against. ## Who gets priority now? Gas first, and the biggest container ships, under a rule written five days before the record. [Advisory to Shipping No. A-28-2026](https://pancanal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/ADV-28-2026-Transit-Reservation-Booking-System-Rule-modifications.pdf?ref=lacaribenanews.com) was issued the same day and changed how slots are allocated. The Authority states the modifications are "intended to allocate slots in the most equitable manner as possible, across market segments and prioritize vessels that make more efficient use of water." From **21 August**, auction slots are offered by market segment group: | Group | Vessel types | | ----------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | | **Group 1** | Liquefied Natural Gas · **Liquefied Petroleum Gas** | | Group 2 | Dry Bulk · General Cargo · Others | | Group 3 | Full Container · Vehicle Carriers and RoRo · Refrigerated | | Group 4 | Chemical Tankers · Crude and Product Tankers | Which group may bid on which day is set by the number of vessels waiting in each, published daily. The G. Spirit is a liquefied petroleum gas carrier. It is in Group 1. Two further rules sit in the same advisory. In the Neopanamax Locks, **full container vessels with the maximum TEU capacity have priority** in the booking competition, with customer ranking as the tiebreaker. And the **Last-Minute service is suspended until further notice**, so a vessel that forfeits a booking must obtain an entirely new slot rather than recover its place. ## What does the equity rule not cover? The auction. A-28-2026 limits each customer to **one booking slot per day** during the competition, a measure the Authority says is meant to give different customers additional opportunities. It used the same method temporarily in December 2023. Rule three of the same advisory reads: "The limit per customer does not apply to slots awarded through the auction process." So the cap that spreads capacity across customers governs the booking queue and stops at the auction. Rationing by turn applies to those who wait. It does not apply to those who pay. ## What does this mean for Caribbean trade? The region ships through a corridor that is being allocated on terms it does not set. Our 6 August reporting established two things from the Authority's own advisories that bear directly on this. In **six months out of six** in 2026, more large ships wanted a booked crossing than there were places for. And in the last shortage, between the 2023 and 2024 financial years, **cargo carried through the canal fell 26 per cent while tolls collected rose**. Less went through. The canal earned more. The same reporting recorded that the Panama Canal Authority lists **no Caribbean route among the six main trade routes** it serves. The waterway runs through the Caribbean basin and is organised around traffic that passes it. Set the allocation rules beside that. Priority in the Neopanamax competition goes to the largest container ships. Group 1 of the segmented auction is gas. The per-customer limit protects the queue and exempts the auction. A regional shipper moving general cargo sits in Group 2, cannot outbid US$5.3 million, and has lost the last-minute service that used to absorb a missed slot. [Regional logistics already run thin](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/bartica-ferry-reliability-interior-trade-logistics-guyana-2026/), and [CARICOM small businesses already wait on cash they are owed](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/the-90-day-wait-why-caricom-small-businesses-starve-for-cash-while-india-quietly-built-a-fix/). A cost that lands on freight lands there. Group 1 is gas. [Gas is also what the region's largest energy exporter is short of](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/trinidad-data-centres-golconda-gas-allocation-2026/). ### Text equivalent of the title card Every data point shown on the title image, with its source. - **US$5.3 million**, record price for one Panama Canal transit slot, agreed 25 August 2026 by **SK Gas** for the LPG carrier **G. Spirit**, transit 1 September. Source: Bloomberg, gCaptain, Maritime Executive. - **US$4.6 million**, the previous record, set earlier the same month by SK Shipping. - **34 daily transits** for booking dates from 4 September 2026; **32** from 15 September. Source: Panama Canal Authority Advisory to Shipping A-29-2026, 20 August 2026. - **3 of those slots are auctioned** (one Neopanamax, one Super, one Regular), in Period 3, seven to two days ahead. Source: A-29-2026. - **Rainfall 34 per cent below the historical average** and **watershed inflows 44 per cent below**, May to August. Source: A-29-2026. - **Draft limits postponed**: 48.0 feet from 26 August to 2 September; 47.5 feet from 3 September to **1 October**. Source: A-29-2026. - **Auction split into four market segment groups from 21 August. Group 1 is LNG and LPG.** Source: Advisory A-28-2026. - **"The limit per customer does not apply to slots awarded through the auction process."** Source: A-28-2026, rule 3. - **Last-Minute service suspended until further notice.** Source: A-28-2026. - **Six months out of six in 2026**, more large ships sought booked crossings than there were places. **Cargo fell 26 per cent while tolls rose** between the 2023 and 2024 financial years. **Zero Caribbean routes** among the canal's six main trade routes. Source: La Caribeña News, 6 August 2026, on Panama Canal Authority advisories and statistics. ### The day's thirty-four places | Booking tier | How far ahead | Slots | | ------------------------- | ----------------- | ------ | | Special Period | 730 to 366 days | 6 | | Long Term Slot Allocation | more than 90 days | 3 | | Period 1 | 90 to 31 days | 7 | | Period 1A | 30 to 15 days | 3 | | Period 2 | 14 to 8 days | 12 | | **Period 3, auctions** | **7 to 2 days** | **3** | | **Total** | | **34** | ## Frequently Asked Questions How much did SK Gas pay to cross the Panama Canal? A record US$5.3 million for a single transit slot, agreed on 25 August 2026 for the liquefied petroleum gas carrier G. Spirit to cross on 1 September. It beat a US$4.6 million record set earlier the same month by SK Shipping. Why are Panama Canal slot prices so high? The canal is rationing transits because of water. Panama Canal Authority Advisory A-29-2026 records rainfall 34 per cent below the historical average and watershed inflows 44 per cent below, and cuts daily transits to 34 from 4 September and 32 from 15 September. Only three of those daily slots are auctioned. Reporting also attributes higher demand to trade route disruption following the Iran war. How does the Panama Canal allocate its slots? By how far ahead a ship books. Tiers run from a Special Period 730 to 366 days ahead down to Period 3 auctions, held seven to two days ahead. Advisory A-28-2026 also divides auction slots into four market segment groups, with liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas in Group 1, and gives the largest container vessels priority in the Neopanamax booking competition. Does the one-slot-per-customer limit apply to the auction? No. Advisory A-28-2026 limits customers to one booking slot per day during competition, but rule three states that the limit does not apply to slots awarded through the auction process. What does this mean for Caribbean shipping? The Panama Canal Authority lists no Caribbean route among the six main trade routes it serves. In the last shortage, between the 2023 and 2024 financial years, cargo carried fell 26 per cent while tolls collected rose. Under the current rules a regional operator moving general cargo bids in Group 2, faces auction prices above US$5 million, and no longer has the Last-Minute service, which is suspended.