Panama Canal transit restrictions in place for a year due to water shortage

BOGOTA, Colombia

Due to an unprecedented drought that has lowered the water level, the Panama Canal put in place restrictions for the transit of ships for a year, officials from the waterway said.

"We are looking at a one-year period, unless in the month of September, October and November heavy rains fall in the Canal watershed and fill the lakes," Ilya Espino, deputy administrator of the Panama Canal, said in an interview on Wednesday.

Hit by prolonged drought caused in part by the El Nino weather phenomenon, the Panama Canal has been forced to slash the volume of daily transits to just 32 vessels a day from 40. Today’s official total count is 129 ships, down from the peak of 165 earlier this month.

“Although we cannot control nature, we can adapt our operations to ensure a competitive flow of ships,” according to a statement by the Panama Canal Authority.

A video of scores of ships floating around the Panama Canal waiting to cross from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, or the other way around has been circulating on social media.

The measures have congested the access to the 50-mile (80-kilometer) stretch of water where 6% of all global trade passes through. Its main users are the US, China and Japan.

Waiting time has also skyrocketed. From the three to five days that ships used to wait to cross the canal, it went up to 19 days, and now it has been reduced to 11.

“Freedom of choice is vital. We understand that our clients have options, and it is our duty to ensure that our services remain the best option. If circumstances dictate and customers temporarily choose another route, we respect and understand their decision,” the statement said.

The Panama Canal uses rainwater as the source of energy that moves the ships in the locks. For each ship that crosses the route, some 200 million liters of fresh water are discharged, which the Canal obtains from a hydrographic basin formed by the Gatun and Alajuela lakes. However, this basin has been depleted by the scarcity of rainfall.