The Panama Canal will double transit for big ships using high tech software. The software being developed by the ACP is a resource management system which will, also, allow computerized scheduling and it’s supposed to help double the number of daily transit for big ships. This will surely grant a competitive edge against the Suez Canal.
According to the program manager at the ACP, Arnoldo Cano, the system will help to increase the number of New Panamax ships that can transit the canal, from 5 to 12 approximately. The first phase of the system will be up and running by September, and two more phases will be completed by the end of 2018.
In the past, the scheduling and management of ships has been carried out in a series of smaller systems focused on a particular task, completely separated. The new system will integrate all of them, Cano said. That means that staff will be able to input size, cargo, and other specifics of a ship, in the system, and it will automatically revert with the locks the ship should go through, a schedule, and let the personnel involved know when and where they need to be.
In words of Cano, “It will not single-handedly double the number of New Panamax ships… Achieving this throughput will require the right mix of personnel and equipment, in the right place and the right time, and the new system will allow us to orchestrate and optimize the whole operation to achieve this.”
As they are planning to invest in a computer-driven system, last year Quintiq, a Dutch company owned by Dassault Systemes, was contracted. According to its website, they have a list of important clients such as Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, the Eurotunnel train link between England and France, DB Schenker, DHL Express, and YRC Freight.
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