Alan's Fun with the Panama Canal's Bureaucracy
We arrive in Colon on Wednesday, March 21st and the process for getting approval to transit the Canal begins. Alan will spend a lot of his time over the next couple of days going through the Panama Canal bureaucracy learning curve. He has a couple of books that give instructions about the paperwork process, but it seems the process is never set in stone and is very fluid. Every yachtie we talk to seems to have a slightly different experience with the process. This is a great example of a process in dire need of BPI (Business Process Improvement) by Booz Allen & Hamilton or KPMG Consulting, Inc. Alan believes the different procedures encountered reflect that most yachties do not hire an "agent" to help them through the process. An agent costs $500 USD, usually is hired by the large shipping companies, and seems to know his way around the fluid procedures. Very few yachties use the agent and Rhum Punch is no different.The first step in the process requires Alan to get a navigation permit. So he goes to the Consular y Navis to purchase the permit. While there he is told the permit will be $35 USD. That's funny - the instruction book indicates $70 USD - oh well. Additionally, he is informed that before he can buy the permit, he must purchase revenue stamps from the bank. OK, fine. Off to the bank, but it closes at 2 PM and it is after 2 PM. Oh well, the rest of the process will have to wait until tomorrow (Thursday, March 22).
First thing on Thursday morning he purchases the $4 worth of stamps at the bank, then makes his way back to the Consular y Navis. Now he is told that the navigation permit will cost him $65. That's all right - with the $4 for the stamps that makes it $69, which is more in line with the instructions. But now he is told that he needs two copies of the following:
- Ship's documentation papers
- Crew list papers (this is a special Panamanian form)
- Arrival papers (for the arrival into Colon, Panama)
- Passports for the crew
With the bureaucracy in full swing Alan is off to a store that will make the photocopies. Once the photocopies are made he makes his way back to the Consular y Navis. Now he has the navigation permit with revenue stamps and the zarpe. It is interesting that no one ever asks for either of these during the rest of the process. But it is Alan's understanding that he needs these things before he can call the Admeasurer.
Now Alan can call the Admeasurer. The Admeasurer is responsible for measuring the length, width, and depth of the boat. It is interesting to all of us that the Canal authority does not think the captain already knows this information about his own boat. Somehow the Canal has become the full employment act for Panama and everyone seems to have his finger in the pie. To make the trip to the boat seem worthwhile the Admeasurer will issue the captain three forms that represent senseless killing of trees just to print the forms.
So Alan calls the Admeasurer and sets up an appointment to have his boat "admeasured" the next day, Friday, March 23rd. It is all set. The Admeasurer promised to be at the boat "sometime in the morning". We are all excited about the pending visit from the Admeasurer; because once the Admeasurer has done his thing we can get our date to transit the Canal. We can feel our liberation from Colon is just around the corner.
On Friday about noon Alan called the Admeasurer to find out why no one has "admeasured" Rhum Punch yet. Alan was told that the Admeasurer was very busy, because he had to measure three boats. Ooo! Three boats in one day. That must be very taxing on one person. This guy must be living with all sorts of job related stress problems. Alan is further told that the Admeasurer will be at Rhum Punch on Saturday morning. Oh well, we have time. But our liberation from Colon will have wait one more day.
At about 10 AM on Saturday the Admeasurer strolled up to the boat and "admeasured" it. This is when Alan learned Rhum Punch is exactly the same size she was when he bought her two years ago except for a few more inches in the stern due to the wind vane he added recently. After the Admeasurer finished he told Alan he would be in the marina office, because he needed to complete the three forms. After a few minutes Alan went looking for the Admeasurer but could not find him in the marina office, immigration office, or any other office. Out of pure frustration Alan went into the marina bar only to find the Admeasurer sitting at a table leisurely completing the required three forms.
Now with the navigation permit, zarpe, and required three forms completed Alan has the pleasure of going back to the bank to pay the transit fees and get the date of our transit or as I like to refer to it - release from Colon. Guess what? It is Saturday and the bank is closed and will not be open until Monday. Oh well, we have time, but Colon is not a safe place.
At the bank on Monday morning Alan is there eager to get our transit date. First he has to pay the transit fee. For boats under 50 feet (Rhum Punch is 39 feet plus a few inches for the wind vane) the fee is $500 plus an $800 damage deposit. Alan slaps his credit card down for payment and waits for the OK from the teller.
At this point I should mention another detail. About a week ago Alan lost his wallet. He was not sure if it fell into the water when jumping from the boat to the dock, or if it fell out of his pocket during a taxi ride, or if his pocket was picked. A couple of weeks later he discovered that someone attempted to purchase $2000 worth of goods in Panama City on his credit card. Well, I guess that rules out the falling into the water theory. At the time his wallet disappeared Alan's wife, Yvonne, was visiting from Toronto. As a quick solution to needing to have a credit card handy Alan borrowed Yvonne's card.
To Alan's amazement the bank compared his passport to the credit card, which had Yvonne's name on it. When the bank discovered the discrepancy they refused payment. At times during this whole transiting paperwork process Alan gets the feeling that "They" are looking for ways to not take your money and not to let you transit the Canal. This is one of those times. The whole payment of $1,300 will have to be in cash, but Alan's cash is back at the boat. A couple of taxi rides later Alan has the OK from the bank. By the way, the bank promises to release the $800 damage deposit about a month after transiting the canal. How nice of them.
Now Alan has to wait until later in the day when the bank gets around to faxing the information to the Canal authority before he can call and get the transit date. Everything is smooth from here. Later that day Alan learns the transit date will be Friday, March 30th. That's only 10 days after we arrived in Colon. Good thing we weren't in a hurry!