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Panama Canal Operations Disrupted By Severe Drought
Warmer waters and drought are severely affecting the Panama Canal, a system that depends on an abundance of freshwater to move ships around the tip of South America. The Panama Canal is a major system that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, contributing significantly to the movement of global cargo. Moving each ship “uses about 55 million gallons of water” which was previously not an issue for Panama, which is known as “one of the wettest countries in the world.” This year however, the dry season lasted longer, and the wet season is not as wet. This means that Panama does not have its usual abundant supply of freshwater for the canal.
Due to these conditions and limited water supply, Panama Canal Authority (PCA) needed to limit the number of ships going through the canal as well as their weights. This has caused massive delays, with as many as 150 ships waiting to pass through and needing to reduce their cargo by about 40% in order to meet the weight restrictions. The wait time to transit through the Panama Canal has been reported to be as long as 21 days, especially with the number of vessels allowed through being reduced from 36 to 32 per day. Since late July, the PCA have tried to adjust to these conditions while keeping cargo ship movement as efficient as possible. At this point, they can only hope that the wet season will provide enough freshwater to support the Panama Canal as it has in the past, before these delays incur higher costs for consumers.
Contributor: Maria Medina
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Resources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/panama-canal-drought-threatens-global-cargo-ship-traffic/
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/26/economy/panama-canal-supply-chain/index.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/09/panama-canal-shipping-pileup-due-to-drought-reaches-154-vessels.html