How El Nino Is Choking the Panama Canal
Authorities will cut transits and vessel drafts to conserve water as rainfall stays 35.8% below average, the canal’s water manager said.
- The Panama Canal began reducing daily traffic from 36 to 32 ships on Friday while lowering vessel draft limits from 15.24 to 14.63 meters to conserve water amid severe drought conditions.
- Canal water manager Erick Cordoba told AFP that accumulated rainfall deficit reached 35.8 percent below the historical average, with 'no signs of recovery in the short term.'
- The route connecting China, South Korea, and Japan with the United States saw 20 percent fewer vessels and a 17 percent drop in tonnage during previous drought restrictions through the Canal.
- Rebecca Bill Chavez, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, warned that long-lasting restrictions will lead to 'higher shipping costs and longer waiting times,' potentially raising consumer prices Worldwide.
- Canal authorities plan to build a 4,600-hectare reservoir on the Indio River by 2031 to secure drinking water for half of Panama's 4.6 million inhabitants amid future droughts.
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In the face of a persistent drought, the Panama Canal reduces the number of vessels authorized to transit daily to preserve its freshwater reserves.
In the midst of the effects of the drought, the administration of the Panama Canal reduced the transits and implemented a progressive timetable of adjustment in the draught of the ships.
How El Nino is choking the Panama Canal
Five percent of global trade passes through the canal that connects the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic. The waterway is set to reduce daily traffic from 36 to 32 ships a day in an effort to conserve water amid a severe drought likely to last until mid-2027. Canal authorities are also reducing the permitted draft of vessels -- how deep they sit in the water -- from 15.24 to 14.63 meters. Panama has declared an emergency over El Nino, which raise…
As of today, the Panama Canal applies new restrictions on the transit of ships amid the effects of the El Niño phenomenon.
(Updates with the entry into force of the measure on Friday) Panama City, 3 Sep (EFE).- The Panama Canal restricts from this Friday to 34, of an average of 36, the daily transits of ships, a measure that seeks to save the fresh water provided by two lakes that already suffer from the [...] Entry The Panama Canal applies the first transit restriction of 2026 due to drought was first published in HolaNews.
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