Panama Canal debuts electronic ship registry system

Seeking to “modernize” its operations further, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has rolled out the first phase of its Electronic Vessel Registry (REN) system.

As disclosed, one of the main goals of REN will be to unify the management systems of the General Directorate of the Merchant Marine (DGMM) and the Public Registry of Ship Ownership of Panama (DGRPN), vessel registration services that superintend the documentation and the certification of property titles, mortgages, and naval liens.

According to the ACP, the registry was developed through a trial and test approach, aiming to ensure it aligns with the ‘real-world’ needs of the shipping sector. The canal’s representatives here noted that the ongoing nature of the process enables the delivery of “critical” features needed for efficient maritime operations.

Moreover, the integration of the DGMM and DGRPN is expected to disentangle procedures for national as well as international stakeholders through a web-based platform, which, in turn, could streamline processing times on a “great scale.”

Shedding more insight about the vision driving the initiative, Director General of the DGRPN, Marta Aparicio, said that the work that led up to the creation of REN was “arduous and complex” but that it “cannot be postponed.”

“We cannot subject our users to unnecessary bureaucracy. We aspire to comprehensive, non-sectoral excellence, which is why we must be on par with, and even surpass, our competitors,” she remarked.

Rommel Troetsch, former president of the Panama Chamber of Shipping, further commented: “The commercial activity of the Panamanian registry operates largely abroad and urgently needs modernization. This automation initiative should eventually extend to all port services, including auxiliary maritime industries, fuel sales, and other maritime operations overseen by the ACP—capitalizing on Panama’s highly strategic geographic position.”

Ramón Franco, Director General of the Merchant Marine at the ACP, added that the digital tools have the potential to restructure response times and tracking processes for Panama, believed to currently boast 9,000 vessels flying its flag, which remains one the world’s ‘top compliant’ flags, as per February 2025 data published by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS).

The past months have been rather ‘eventful’ for the Panama Canal, which, despite rising pressures from Washington, has reported that it remains steady on the path toward both modernization and decarbonization.

To remind, in January this year, the US President Donald Trump reignited an age-old ‘controversy’ between Panama and the United States by claiming “significant Chinese presence” and declaring that the US was willing to “take Panama back.”

These assertions were decried by the Panamanian administration, which described them as “baseless and intolerable.” President José Raúl Mulino, however, added that, even though the claims had “taken him by surprise”, Panama would be willing to continue its relationship with the United States and work with the Washington administration in ‘clarifying’ or ‘resolving any issues.’

In early April this year, the Minister for Canal Affairs of Panama and the United States Secretary of Defense inked a joint declaration on security matters. As informed, the document reaffirms respect and recognition of the Central American country’s sovereignty over the interoceanic waterway and compliance with the Neutrality Treaty.

The ACP has explained that the declaration also envisions efforts to be made to create a “cost-neutral” mechanism that would allow compensation for services provided to warships and auxiliary vessels. This came around two months after Panama flatly rejected US claims that the North American nation’s Navy would transit the canal for free.

On the green side of the coin, the ACP recently introduced a priority passage program in order to support low-emission shipping. Specifically, at the end of March 2025, the canal’s authority unpacked the NetZero Slot, a dedicated weekly transit slot for Neopanamax vessels that meet ‘very specific’ low-carbon requirements.

What is more, at the beginning of April, Stillstrom, Maersk’s offshore power and charging solutions developer, shook hands with the ACP to examine the potential for implementing its technology to cut down on emissions from ships idling in and around the canal.