Drought causes ships to collapse in the Panama Canal

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.