Frequently Asked Questions

As part as its ongoing commitment to the environment, the Panama Canal implemented the Green Connection Environmental Recognition Program to help the shipping industry mitigate the environmental impact of their operations.

This initiative recognizes customers who demonstrate excellent environmental stewardship, and encourages others to also implement technologies and standards to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Green Connection Environmental Recognition Program promotes the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by distinguishing vessels that comply with the highest environmental performance standards. The program consists of: The Green Connection Award and the Environmental Premium Ranking.

The Panama Canal established a program to recognize the environmental performance of those users and vessels that exceed the environmental parameters established by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). This recognition program called “Green Connection Award” uses as reference the efficiency and design of ships, fuel efficiency measures and emissions reduced by the use of the Panama Canal route.

The Green Connection Award recognizes transiting vessels with a good environmental performance that comply with the following:

Every vessel that voluntary enters into ESI program, have their program certification and validity period. However, the costumer could send the vessel IMO number or the ESI certification and we can verify at ESI database: http://www.environmentalshipindex.org/Public/Ships. The ships will be recognized with an acknowledgment plaque.

Yes, it is correct and the Panama Canal has been included as an ESI incentive provider. We can highlight the following ESI aspects:

• Is a voluntary system designed to improve the environmental performance of sea going vessels;
• It gives a numerical representation of the environmental performance of ships regarding air pollutants and CO₂;
• Scores NOx and SOx emissions directly and proportionally and gives a fixed bonus for documentation and management of energy efficiency;
• Only includes ships that perform over and above current international legislation (IMO);
• Enables ports and other interested parties to stimulate ships to improve their environmental performance;
• Is automatically calculated and maintained;
• Is free of charge for ship owners.

The details of which, including formulas for calculating the ESI Score, can be found on the following website:   www.environmentalshipindex.org.

The Environmental Premium Ranking will award customers with percentage points in the “number of transits” criteria when calculating the customer ranking. These additional points will allow customers to improve their position in the Customer Ranking System

In order for customers to receive this benefit, their vessels must meet at least one of the following requirements:

Vessels that qualify as “Level 1” will receive an additional 10 percentage points for each transit through the Canal towards their overall customer ranking, and vessels that qualify as “Level 2” will receive an additional 20 percentage points per transit to improve their rank.

In September 2019, the Environmental Premium Ranking began to factor in the use of low-carbon fuels and environmentally conscious transit operations.

Participation is optional. Interested vessel must request participation and deliver documentation, which supports the environmental efficiency rating at least 96 hours prior to the vessel’s arrival to Canal waters to the following email: greenconnection@pancanal.com.

The Panama Canal may request additional information in order to verify compliance with the requirements established for each level. Participating vessels shall have available a copy of the required documentation in case it is requested during the evaluation process.

The EEDI reference line is defined on Regulation 21 of MARPOL Annex VI, taking into account Resolution MEPC. 203(62), Resolution MEPC.215 (63) Resolution MEPC.245 (66) and Resolution MEPC.254 (67).

The reference line depends on the vessel and not all vessel will have EEDI, for that reason our Green Connection Program have different environmental indicators in which a vessel can comply.

The control of diesel engine NOx emissions is achieved through the survey and certification requirements leading to the issue of an Engine International Air Pollution Prevention (EIAPP) Certificate and the subsequent demonstration of service compliance in accordance with the requirements of the mandatory, regulations 13.8 and 5.3.2 respectively, NOx Technical Code 2008 (resolution MEPC.177 (58) as amended by resolution MEPC.251 (66)).

It includes only main engine data.

At this moment, only vessels with LNG engines qualify. However, during the implementation of the program we will make the statistics for those Dual Fuel Engine and if those vessels during the Panama canal Transits use LNG as fuel.

The application of the bonus percentage is effective for transits beginning January 1, 2017.

Yes, it is possible.

No financial discounts are contemplated in the program.

The Environmental Premium Ranking will award customers with percentage points in the “number of transits” criteria when calculating the customer ranking. These additional points will allow customers to improve their position in the Customer Ranking System.

The bonus will be applied to the customer responsible for the vessel’s transit. Vessels that transit the Canal are required to provide a “Customer Code” for the transit portion of the visit to Panama Canal waters.  The customer that appears in the transit itinerary would be the one getting the bonus, whether it is the owner or the operator.

You only need to send the information once. However, in case the documentation has expired, we encourage you to send the updated information.