Panama Canal may further reduce crossings due to El Niño
Authorities may lower ship drafts and transit limits as reservoir levels fall, with 2,700 fewer crossings recorded during similar restrictions in 2023-2024.
- Panama Canal Authority head Ilya Espino de Marotta warned on Monday that further transit limits may be necessary if drought conditions persist, following recent reductions to daily ship capacity.
- Severe drought driven by the strongest El Niño in four decades has depleted water levels in the artificial Gatun and Alhajuela lakes that sustain the 50-mile Panama Canal's operations.
- Authorities reduced maximum ship drafts from 15.2 meters to 14.6 meters while cutting daily transits from 36 to 32, affecting a waterway handling 5% of global maritime trade.
- "We do not rule out the possibility that in February or March we may have to lower the limit- probably not to 24 slots per day, but it could be reduced to 29 or something similar," Espino said.
- Officials prioritize the Rio Indio reservoir project to mitigate water scarcity, as the canal serves as a critical fallback route for global energy shipments amid shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
14 Articles
14 Articles
Panama Canal considering fewer transits due to El Nino
The number of ships sailing through the Panama Canal could be cut further due to drought caused by the El Nino weather pattern, the new administrator of the waterway said on Monday. Panama has declared a nationwide emergency over El Nino, a phenomenon developing over the Pacific Ocean that is affecting worldwide weather patterns and pushing up global temperatures. This year's El Nino is expected to be the strongest since record-keeping began fou…
Panama Canal faces decreased traffic amid further shallowing
The Panama Canal is experiencing severe shallowing that could reduce daily vessel transits to just 27 in the coming months, the Financial Times reports, citing the canal's new administrator Ilya Espino de Marotta.▫️ Transit capacity is shrinking...
Panama Canal May Restrict Ship Traffic as El Niño Worsens : The Tico Times | Costa Rica News
The Panama Canal has not ruled out further restrictions on ship traffic because of a drought worsened by the El Niño climate phenomenon, its new administrator, Ilya Espino de Marotta, said in an interview. The waterway, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and handles 5% of global maritime trade, has begun gradually reducing daily transits from 36 to 32 as of September 15. The 80-kilometer (50-mile) Panama Canal operates primarily with…
The drought forced a reduction in the number of ships passing through this waterway, which handles 5% of global maritime trade and operates using freshwater stored in two artificial lakes, now diminished by the lack of rain, from 36 to 32 per day. Between 2023 and 2024, limitations imposed by El Niño, whose effects are exacerbated by climate change, resulted in 2,700 fewer ships passing through. Espino de Marotta, a 64-year-old engineer and the…
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