The Panama Canal will further reduce daily ship crossings in the coming months due to a severe drought. Booking slots will be cut to 25 per day starting from November 3 and gradually reducing it until February 1, 2024, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) said on Monday in a client advisory.
The authority furthermore said that it encourages vessels to make use of the transit reservation system in order to guarantee a transit date, and to reduce the possibility of extensive delays.
Based on the rainfall projections for the following weeks, which is expected to be 38% less for the rest of the year, the Panama Canal will further reduce the daily transit capacity to postpone the need for additional draft reductions below the current 13.41m (44 feet) TFW.
The drought is impacting traffic in the Panama Canal which is progressively lowering the canal’s reservoir levels and forcing the Panama Canal to periodically manage water utilization in a sustainable manner to maintain acceptable and competitive draft levels.
The current conditions, are creating an unprecedented drought, and thus far has produced the driest year on record since 1950.
In light of the prolonged effects of the dry season, the canal authorities impose new restrictions.
The number of booking slots from November 3-6 will be reduced to 25, and from November 7-30, 2023, the number of booking slots will be reduced to 24, the Panama Canal Authority said in a client advisory.
In addition, from December 1-31 the number of booking slots will further be reduced to 22, and from January 1-31 2024, the number of booking slots will be reduced to 20.
For booking dates beginning February 1, 2024, and until further notice, the number of booking slots will be reduced to 18 per day.
Since the beginning of the 2023 dry season, the Panama Canal adopted several water saving and conservation measures in the transit operation, including the use of water saving basins in the Neopanamax Locks and cross-filling in the Panamax Locks.
Additionally, the late arrival of this year’s rainy season, and lack of precipitation in the Canal watershed has obliged the Canal to reduce the transit capacity to approximately 32 vessels per day since July 30, 2023, while managing the available rainfall over the watershed to maintain Gatun Lake at a level that would offer a competitive draft for its customers.
The Canal also announced at the end of September an additional reduction in capacity, which is effective from the beginning of November.
However, despite the measures taken by the authority, the level of Gatun Lake has continued to decline to unprecedented levels for this time of year.
The recorded precipitation for October has been the lowest on record since 1950 (41% below), and until now 2023 ranks as the second driest year for the same period, as the authority reports.
