Welcome to the Panama Weekly News Roundup! Here’s the latest.
Panama Canal opens 2021 with 50 feet draft offering.
A year ago the Panama Canal faced with low rainfall in the basin, had to take measures to maintain operations.
It will begin in 2021 offering 50 feet of draft, the highest level for neo-Panamax locks, announced administrator Ricaurte Vásquez Morales in his end of the year message.
The service to customers and users of the Canal is offered amid the challenges presented by the pandemic and which has required a more cautious management of the Canal workforce to control infections and maintain uninterrupted service.
Source: Hellenic Shipping News
Panama Canal administrator’s year-end remarks.
This month marks the close of the Panama Canal’s 21st year under Panamanian administration. Looking back, our resilience this year attests to the experience and world-class workforce built over the decades. Despite facing new challenges in 2020, we upheld our long-standing commitments while continuing to create, capture and render value to our customers and Panama.
For one, we secured the continuity of our service by protecting our team and customers first. We introduced COVID-19 safety measures in March to keep the Panama Canal route operating safely and without interruptions throughout the entire year. To date, positive cases have not affected, nor have been linked to, our transit operations, and our staff remains on duty.
Source: AJOT
Panama to extend lockdowns in effort to curb coronavirus.
Panama will extend lockdowns in two provinces, including the capital, from Jan. 4 – 14 in an effort to contain a jump in coronavirus cases in the heavily populated areas, the health minister said on Sunday.
With 231,357 registered COVID-19 cases and 3,840 deaths, Panama is the Central American nation that has accumulated the highest number of infections.
Under the lockdown measures, which authorities last week said would go into effect nationwide from Dec. 31 – Jan. 4, residents may only leave their homes for essential services such as medical appointments and grocery shopping, Health Minister Luis Sucre said.
Source: Reuters
Where to find Panama’s best coffee
Panama produces some of the world’s best coffee, and if you’re a connoisseur, this has been on your radar for a while. Panama’s “Geisha” coffee has won numerous awards over the years, particularly recently, and is considered the highest-priced coffee (per pound) in the world.
It is famous for its almost tea-like flavor profile, its delicate and fine growing process, and its rarity. Of course, at between $60 and $1,000 per pound (yes, you read that right), it’s not the most cost-accessible coffee in the world, nor is it a practical bean for your average day-to-day coffee drinker. Luckily, in Panama, you have plenty of more choices. All of them are high quality for the price, and all are part of the gastronomical and cultural fabric of Panama as a whole. Here’s more.
