Panamax
[1] These requirements also describe topics like exceptional dry seasonal limits, propulsion, communications, and detailed ship design.
In 2009, the ACP published the "New Panamax" specification,[2] which came into effect when the canal's third set of locks, larger than the original two, opened on 26 June 2016.
When the water level in Lake Gatún is low during an exceptionally dry season, the maximum permitted draft may be reduced.
New Panamax increases allowable draft to 15.2 m (49.9 ft);[2] however, due to low rainfall, the Canal Authority limited draft to 43 feet when the new locks opened in June 2016, increasing it to 44 feet (13.41 meters) in August, "based on the current level of Gatun Lake and the weather forecast for the following weeks.
As of April 2012, a controversy between Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, over limited federal funding for dredging/deepening projects—including both state and federal lawsuits filed by environmental groups in both states opposing the techniques planned to be used in dredging the Savannah River—also revolves around attracting the business of carriers whose fleets include New Panamax vessels.
[18][19][20] Liverpool built a new container terminal, Liverpool2, where ships berth in the tidal river rather than in the enclosed docks, coinciding with the opening of the widened Panama Canal locks.
In Halifax, Canada, a major expansion of the South End Container Terminal was completed in 2012, extending the pier and increasing the berth depth from 14.5 to 16 metres (48 to 52 ft).
[21] The port of Salina Cruz, in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, has been expanded to obtain the capacity to receive Post Panamax ships.
[22] This expansion forms part of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT) project which the Mexican government has been executing since 2019.
[23] The project's goal is to create a land-based route alternative to the Panama Canal, which has faced complications in recent years due to intense droughts.
However, the port of Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, is still 12 metres (39 ft) deep, but it has nonetheless been subjected to expansion and modernization to efficiently transport cargo.
The first post-Panamax ship was the RMS Queen Mary, launched in 1934, built with a 118-foot beam as she was intended solely for North Atlantic passenger runs.
[31] Until World War II, the United States Navy required that all of their warships be capable of transiting the Panama Canal.
The limit was specifically removed by the Secretary of the Navy on 12 February 1940, with the (never-realized) prospect of a new set of 140-foot wide locks to be built for the Canal.
