COPY OF ALL ADVISORIES ARE AVAILABLE IN THE PANAMA CANAL WEB PAGE AT http://www.pancanal.com FOR ETAS OR DIRECT COMMUNICATION WITH OUR OFFICES: REFER TO NOTICE N-3-2010 March 4, 2010 OP’S ADVISORY TO SHIPPING No. A-04-2010 TO : All Steamship Agents, Owners, and Operators SUBJECT: Monthly Canal Operations Summary – FEBRUARY 2010 1. Panama Canal Statistical Summary: a. Transit Pilot Force .................................................................................................286 b. Pilots in Training ................................................................................................. 0 c. Tugs ................................................................................................. 31 d. Locomotives ..................................................................................................100 2. Traffic Statistics: Average Daily High Daily Low Daily Arrivals 35.86 45 27 Oceangoing Transits 36.07 41 29 Canal Waters Time (hours) 19.09 23.80 15.28 In-Transit Time (hours) 9.07 10.69 7.69 Distribution of Oceangoing Transits: Total Average Daily Percentage Vessels of less than 91 ́ Beam 45416.21 44.95% Vessels 91 ́ Beam and Over 55619.86 55.05% Total of Oceangoing Transits: 101036.07 Vessels 100’ Beam and Over 45716.32 45.25% Vessels 900 ́ Length and Over 943.36 9.31% Note: For the purpose of this report, the term “oceangoing transits” is equivalent to the number of locomotive transits. Booking Slots: Available Used Percentage Large Vessels (beam 91' and over) 476* 155*¹ 32.56% Regular Vessels (beam < 91') 224* 136*¹ 60.71% *Does not include additional auctioned booking slots ¹ Includes booked transits only 3. The following page provides the scheduled locks maintenance work and other items of interest to the shipping community. 4. This advisory will be canceled for record purposes on March 31, 2010. ORIGINAL SIGNED Manuel E. Benitez Executive Vice President of Operations OP, March 4, 2010 Subject: Monthly Canal Operations Summary – FEBRUARY 2010 ONE YEAR SCHEDULE OF LOCKS MAINTENANCE WORK Dates Days Miraflores Pedro Miguel Gatun Estimated Transit Capacity 1 Status Sept. 8-17, 2010 10 Centerwall Culvert 29-33 Tentative 1 The normal transit capacity of the Panama Canal is 38-40 vessels each day, depending on vessel mix and other factors. This capacity is reduced during locks maintenance work, as indicated in the above table. Consequently, vessels may experience delays in transiting. Normally, during these periods, the Panama Canal Transit Reservation System slots are fully utilized. Whenever a set of locks requires a major outage of one of its two lanes for dry chamber inspection, miter gate repairs, tow track work or other major maintenance/improvement projects, advantage may be taken of this requirement to perform simultaneous single lane outages for additional maintenance at other locks. PANAMA CANAL AUTHORITY NAMED MOST TRANSPARENT PANAMANIAN ORGANIZATION FOR SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, THE ACP RANKS FIRST IN COUNTRY INDEX; ACP ETHICS AND CONDUCT PROGRAM RECOGNIZED For the second consecutive year, the Panamanian Public Institutions Integrity Index ranked the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) as the most transparent public institution in Panama for 2009. Out of 31 participating organizations, the ACP obtained the highest score, 266 out of 281 points. The ACP was also recognized as the firm with the best ethics and management program for 2009. The Index, promoted by the Foundation for Citizenship Freedom Development wi