Panama Canal Transit: What Does it Cost?

Whenever I tell people that Virago transited the Panama Canal in early September of 2010 they have two basic questions. The first question is: “What does it cost?” As with so many questions, the answer is: “It depends.”  It depends upon the size of your boat and how many of the  formalities you choose to do yourself. The short answer for Virago is: “About $2,000.” Here’s how the formal part worked for us.

In a typical visit to a foreign country there are five government agencies that must be dealt with: immigration, customs, health, agriculture, and ports. In a transit of the Panama Canal there are several more: fumigation, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), and the measurer. This usually involves either visits to multiple far-flung offices or visits by multiple government officials. We chose to hire an agent named Tina McBride to manage the process for us. In the following pictures you see the ACP official with the captain and then Tina with the ACP official and with three of the other officials.

  

Costs: $2,000

1. Each boat that passes through the canal is required to have an official registration showing that it has been measured (cost $50).
2. Since Virago measured in at under 50 feet, her actual transit cost just over $500.
3. For the services that we selected, Tina McBride’s fee was just under $500.
4. Panama charges $180 for a cruising permit good for one year.
5. The other inspections plus the checkin to Balboa (Pacific side port) and the checkout from Colon (Caribbean side port) came to another $500.
6. Since a boat needs four line handlers as well as the captain, we hired two line handlers who brought the required 110 foot lines and the tires to be used as fenders: cost nearly $200.

What You Get for Your Money

Besides handling the coming and going of the various officials, Tina got us scheduled to transit on Tuesday, September 2nd even though we had arrived at Flamenco Marina on Sunday, August 31st. We also were not required to post an $800 bond against our having to spend the night on the canal due to slow speed or mechanical difficulties.

We picked up our two line handlers with the lines and fenders at the Flamenco Marina. Once again, be sure to notice the high pilings necessitated by the 14 foot tidal range on the Pacific side of the canal. All boats transiting the canal need to have either a pilot (on large ships) or an advisor (on smaller vessels). We picked up our advisor off a pilot boat near the entrance of the canal.

  

Once on the boat, the advisor who is an employee of the ACP directs every movement of the boat and coordinates with any other traffic on the day’s schedule.

 

Once the vessel is through the canal, the advisor is taken off by another pilot boat and the line handlers get off at Shelter Bay Marina on the Caribbean side of the canal.

 Here’s Dracula. He works for Tina McBride and handled all the checkouts from Cristobal on the Caribbean side as well as providing transportation for the line handlers.