Union Warns Of Supply Chain Risks From Overworked Panama Tugboat Operators

The International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots (MM&P) is warning of risks associated with maneuvering Neopanamax ships through the expanded Panama Canal.

Could an accident in the new Neopanamax locks be a supply chain crisis waiting to happen?

As the U.S. and the rest of the world grapple with supply chain bottlenecks, the seafarers union MM&P said careful consideration should be given to front-line workers in every sector of transportation who are often treated as disposable despite their essential duties.

The tugboat operators responsible for maneuvering enormous Neopanamax vessels through the expanded Panama Canal locks, which opened in 2016, are a case in point. “A developing crisis in the Canal has the potential to impact international maritime trade to an extent far greater than the grounding of the M/V Ever Given in the Suez Canal earlier this year,” MM&P said in an emailed statement.

The union says Panama Canal workers are being forced to perform their jobs under increasingly hazardous conditions, a situation that puts the world’s supply chains at growing risk.

The hazards faced by Canal workers stem primarily from a well-documented design issue of the expanded Canal, which has given rise to a much more labor-intensive process for transiting vessels compared to the old, existing locks.

In the old locks, electric-powered locomotive “mules” run on tracks along the lock chamber sidewalls and utilize mooring wires and tension winches to maintain the position of transiting ships. In the new locks, however, tugboats are continuously required to safely position vessels in transit. “This puts great strain on the tugboat operators who are at the controls of their tugs, often for many hours without relief, throughout the entire transit,” MM&P said.

“The Panama Canal Authority continues to turn a blind eye to the danger. It refuses to hire more personnel. It operates a fleet of tugs that is both too small and technically deficient. It blatantly ignores industry standard work/rest hours. Fatigue, injury, and death have resulted. Experienced tug captains and other Canal workers who speak out are being suspended from work and threatened with termination,” according to the MM&P.

In one incident in 2017, the USCGC Tampa was reportedly struck by one of the tugs after the tug captain fell asleep on the job. “Action must be taken to ensure safe transits through the Canal,” the MM&P said.