Sept.3--FITCH Ratings has for the third consecutive year affirmed the Panama Canal Authority's (ACP) 'A' investment grade rating with a stable outlook for its long-term issuer default rating and its senior unsecured notes.

The credit rating agency pointed to the canal's "stable volume performance, solid competitive position and well-diversified cargo mix, causing [the] ACP's volume profile to exhibit high levels of resilience."

Furthermore, the report underscored the canal's strategic role in global trade flows due to its ability to offer connectivity to world maritime trade, adding value as the main transshipment hub in the region.

Panama Canal's executive vice president Francisco Miguez said the awarding of the rating that demonstrates the canal's financial and competitive strength "is the direct result of our hard work and commitment to maintaining profitable operations, while providing customers with reliable, consistent service."

Also factoring into its decision, Fitch Ratings cited the waterway's "strategic importance to world commerce, extraordinary legal framework," contributing to institutional, operational and financial autonomy and the "existence of appropriate incentives to keep the asset profitable over the long-run".