The Panama Canal will increase the daily transit of ships to 24

He Panama Canal reported this Friday that as of January 16, it will increase 24 the number of daily crossings through the interoceanic waterway, the only one in the world that uses fresh water and is affected by the severe drought resulting from the El Niño phenomenon.

Although in optimal conditions the channel manages 36 daily transitscurrently 22 ships pass each day, divided into 6 neopanamax (those passing through the expansion inaugurated in 2016) and 16 panamax, as part of the gradual restrictions applied for several months due to the drought affecting the artificial lake Gatún, the main water supplier of the route connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean.

In a press release, the channel reminded of this this Friday “October 2023 was the driest in history” its basin, therefore, “anticipating the possibility of worsening the situation in November and December, a decision was made to progressively adjust the number of daily transits to 24 in November, 22 in December, 20 in January and 18 in February”.

But given that last November’s rains “were not as light as those in October” and given the results of “applied water-saving measures and restrictions”, 24 ships will be allowed to transit from January, not 20. As provides, official detailed information.

He added that canal experts are conducting “detailed monitoring of the current water crisis, so the measures announced today and published in the Notice to Shipping Companies will come into effect on 16 January 2024 and will remain in place until any a condition that requires changes, about which we will inform you in due course”.

The restriction of daily transit caused the boats to stop until 10:00 am 160 ships are waitingmostly without a reservation, that is, without a planned transition, for several weeks since last August.

Certain shipping companies have decided to use other routes due to the difficulty of crossing the canal, as the specialized media write, and the canal administration itself admits.

It was this Friday 64 ships are waiting to cross the channel, 41 with a reservation and 23 without oneaccording to official information.

The Panama Canal is a relevant route that, under normal conditions, moves 500 to 510 million tons of cargo. It connects 189 maritime routes and 1920 ports in the world, according to data from its administration.