Large container ships sailing from Asia to the United States and Gulf Coast ports via the Panama Canal are facing restrictions due to low rainfall that limits the depth of the canal.
The Panama Canal will severely restrict transit capacity to conserve water and shipping will feel the effects in the months ahead, with different vessel types facing different fallout.
Richarte Vasquez, administrator of Panama Canal Authority disclosed the current challenge during a press conference on Sept. 12 where it said that each transit of the Panama Canal consumes a large amount of water, regardless of ship size.
“If it doesn’t rain enough, the canal must either limit transits or reduce ship draft,” said Vasquez.
Around 70 percent of vessels using the Panama Canal require a draft of 44 feet, which is the current limit, down from 50 feet at the beginning of this year. If the draft is lowered further, most ships won’t be able to transit with full loads.
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“We will commit to 44 feet for the foreseeable future. If adjustments are required in order to maintain 44 feet, those adjustments will be on the number of transits per day,” said Vazquez weeks ago.
The Authority had previously reduced daily transit reservation slots from 36 to 32. It recently announced that reservation slots will be limited to 25 starting Nov. 8 and 22 on Dec. 1. The number of reservation slots will fall to 20 on Jan. 1, 2024, then 18 starting Feb. 1.
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Meanwhile, larger container ships are already feeling the effect of Panama’s drought because they need more than 44 feet of draft when fully loaded.
Vasquez said for every foot of lost draft, container ships lose capacity for 350 twenty-foot equivalent units.
This year’s loss of 6 feet of draft equates to 2,100 TEUs of cargo. Liners have either had to sail with lower utilisation or unload 2,100 TEUs on the Pacific side of Panama, rail them across the isthmus, and reload on the Atlantic side.
