By: Staff Writer
June 14, 2024
The Panama Canal will increase its daily transits from 32 to 33 this coming July 11, and shippers could not be more excited about the news.
The Panama Canal experienced its worst drought on record over the past 12 months, with the canal’s depth shrinking to some 39 feet at one point from its average height of 43 feet.
This has caused ship, from oil tankers to freighters, to have to wait outside of the canal zone to allow an orderly procession of ships channeling through.
This will begin to come to an end on July 11. Furthermore, starting on 22 July, this number will rise to 34, reflecting the present and predicted levels of Gatun Lake in the future weeks, as well as the arrival of the rainy season in the Panama Canal Watershed.
With these gradual increases, the Canal will have added two transits to the present timetable by 22 July: one to the Panamax locks (bringing the daily transit total to 25) and one to the Neopanamax locks (bringing the daily transit total to 9).
Furthermore, an increase in draft from 45 to 46 feet was announced, beginning 15 June.
Since May last year, the ACP has had to cut back daily transits on the waterway as the nation fought a massive drought – the worst on record.
The incoming new president of Panama has put water levels at the country’s canal as one of his most important items on his agenda. Jose Raul Mulino will take office for a five-year term from July.
Interviewed by Reuters last month, Mulino said he would try and get lawmakers to approve a law enabling the Panama Canal to build large water reservoirs to combat droughts.
The law, which would grant the waterway permission to operate on land needed for the reservoirs, would be the first approved under his administration, Mulino said.
The Panama Canal Authority is also exploring the construction of a new reservoir to provide capacity for an additional 11 transits, as part of its ongoing efforts to find innovative solutions to the challenges posed by water scarcity. Dr. Ricaurte Vásquez Morales, the Canal Authority’s Administrator, has stated that there is no simple solution to these challenges, highlighting the complexity of maintaining canal operations in the face of environmental concerns.