The low water level has caused traffic jams in the Panama Canal. The waiting time for transit has increased and they have limited the number of ships that can pass per day.
Drought has caused a collapse in the Panama Canal. The rise in temperatures and climate change have caused the water level to drop and the depth of ships is limited to 13.4 meters, which makes it difficult for large ships that need more depth to transit.
This has meant that the authority only allows the transit of authorized vessels with reservations, and limits the total number of vessels that pass per day to a maximum of 32, compared to the 36 per day that usually pass under normal conditions.
In recent days, drought-related restrictions have been eased, and the authority has opened two slots a day for unreserved vessels to transit to help clear bottlenecks on both sides of the interoceanic corridor.
According to official figures, the number of ships waiting to pass has decreased from 160 to 134, and the number of vessels approaching the canal from 50 to 40. However, average wait time has increased to 10-11 days, up from 6-7 days last month: the wait exceeds 17 days for cargo ships and liquefied petroleum gas ships, and is almost 13 days for oil tankers.
Source: Eitb
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.