A shipment is guided through the Panama Canal’s Miraflores Locks near Panama City on April 24, 2023. The scarcity of rainfall due to global warming has forced the Panama Canal to reduce the draught of shipments from the waterway, in the middle of a water source. crisis that threatens the long-term of this shipping route. (Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)
The Panama Canal, a century-old construction that revolutionized global trade, is closed due to drought and is forcing shippers around the world to face a painful decision.
They can queue for days or weeks as low water levels restrict the number of shipments across the 50-mile waterway, carrying cars, customer goods, fruit and fuel. They can pay millions of dollars to get further in the queue, if a shipment with a reserved reservation offers everything. Or they can sail across an entire continent, shipping their shipments through the southern ends of Africa and South America, or through the busy Suez Canal.
Each selection adds prices, at a time when governments around the world are struggling to control inflation. And the bottleneck will only get worse in the coming months as Panama enters its annual dry season, which typically begins in December and lasts until April or May. “We’re facing less capacity, more travel, higher prices and a less effective supply chain,” said Paul Snell, chief executive of British American Shipping, whose company transports between 20,000 and 40,000 boxes a year. “Everybody’s going to have to get artistic. “
Gatun Lake, which is a key stretch of the canal formula and supplies new water for its locks, has received little rain this year as El Niño caused a devastating drought. As a result, the Panama Canal Authority has reduced the number of shipments allowed. to go from an average of 36 to 38 per day in the future to 18 in February, part of the overall number. The authority has also reduced the draught degrees (the height at which a vessel can remain in the water); Less burden. Even if the rains are delayed next year, traffic jams and traffic restrictions will persist until 2024.