Drought-hit Panama Canal to restrict access for one year

Agencies | Panama City

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The drought-hit Panama Canal will maintain restrictions on the passage of ships for one year, a measure that has already led to a marine traffic jam as boats line up to enter the crucial waterway linking two oceans, an official said late Thursday.

The canal is facing a shortage of rainwater to transfer ships through a series of locks that function like water elevators, an engineering marvel that moves six percent of the world’s maritime commerce between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The canal’s sub-administrator Ilya Espino, told AFP that unless heavy rains fall in the next three months, “we are looking at a period of one year” of restricted access to the waterway.

That period will give clients “a year to plan” how to adapt.

The 50-mile (80-kilometer) byway is mainly used by clients from the United States, China, and Japan, and on Thursday, some 130 boats were backed up waiting to enter, compared to around 90 usually in the queue.

Waiting times, usually between three and five days, have gone up to 19 days at times, although they now stand at around 11 days.

In 2022, an average of 40 ships crossed through the canal a day, a number which has now dropped to 32 to save water.