Panama Canal News Updates

Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka is still wary over developments in the Red Sea and Panama Canal.

PANAMA CITY — A severe drought that began last year has forced authorities to slash ship crossings by 36% in the Panama Canal, one of the world’s most important trade routes.

Congestion at the Panama Canal could result in delays at Egypt’s Suez Canal, possibly affecting cargoes of liquefied natural gas, according to an official at Angelicoussis Group.

The Panama Canal Authority said it will add extra slots allowing ships to pay big premiums to transit the waterway, which has become congested due to an ongoing drought.

Shipping companies have paid a total of $235 million so far this year to jump ahead of the backlog at the Panama Canal, according to data from shipping agency Waypoint Port Services.

Japan’s Eneos Group paid $3.975 million in an auction Nov. 8 to jump to the front of the line at the congested Panama Canal waterway, a record high.

Dry weather is set to force large oil tankers to completely stop using the Panama Canal, requiring the vessels to extend their voyages by thousands of miles, a shipping researcher said.

The operator of the Panama Canal said there’s no immediate prospect of relief from the drought that’s reduced water levels and snarled shipping and global supply chains.

Panama Canal officials say limiting how many ships can go through the waterway could have downstream effects on U.S. trucking like slowdowns and bottlenecks.

The Panama Canal Authority proposed a comprehensive restructuring of its toll system April 1 that would increase rates charged on cargo such as vehicles, oil and gas, and soybeans that cross the waterway as ocean shippers rake in record profits.