Natural disasters and man-made disasters! When exactly will the Panama Canal return to normal?

The Panama Canal Authority(ACP) is recovering its normal operations actively after suffering the cutbacks in draught and transit volume caused by drought.

“Current forecasts indicate that steady rainfall will arrive in late April and continue for several months. If this remains the case, the Canal plans to gradually ease transportation restrictions to allow conditions to fully normalize by 2025,” the ACP said in a press release yesterday, adding, ‘Recent precipitation and progress gained by the Canal's ongoing water conservation efforts are turning the tide.’

E-PORTS has been reporting on the ACP's decision to cut daily transit and draft levels since last August. (Click for previous reports.) The ongoing drought, coupled with the intensification of the El Niño weath er phenomenon, has resulted in a large number of the world's merchant fleet deciding to avoid the route to avoid the queues and high transit fees.Not only did the weather fail to cooperate, but man-made causes were also frequent at the end of last year, with the Suez Canal becoming dangerous territory for the first time in the history of shipping as the Houthis in Yemen, in the midst of a campaign aimed at putting pressure on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas to resolve the dispute, caused further congestion in the Panama Canal as ships were bypassing the Suez Canal, with some switching to shipping through the Panama Canal!

Three weeks ago, E-PORTS also reported that the ACP was adding three extra moments per day at its Panamax locks (click to see the previous sequence of reports), bringing the maxi mum number of transits per day to 27, which is still more than 10 hours below the normal maximum of the waterway, but suggests that the worst of it is behind us.

Danish liner giant Maersk said last week that water levels along the canal were improving, announcing the resumption of a service that had previously switched to overland rail transportation across the Central American country at the height of the drought crisis.

“All modifications to restrictions will depend on forecasts. If rainfall is lower than expected, the canal may retain or further restrict daily access or draught,” the ACP warned yesterday. However, moderate rainfall is expected later this month and will increase in intensity, which the ACP said would allow the canal to gradually increase its daily slots to return to the 36 daily crossings normally provided during the wet season. 

ACP also updated ship operators on the auction price for extra slots, which has risen sharply over the last year. ACP claimed that the auction price had leveled off yesterday and was generally close to normal today.

According to Clarksons Research, transit restrictions on the Panama Canal account for 2.5 percent of global trade, resulting in a one-third drop in transit tonnage.

ACP's latest forecasts show that with the onset of the rainy season, the projected depth of Lake Gatun, a vital water in the central part of the canal, will begin to climb at the end of May.

E-PORTS global ship service management platform can provide you with port congestion and ship queuing in Panama Canal. If you have a ship that needs to pass through Panama Canal, you can inform E-PORTS customer service of your specific needs, and you can get a free quote of the shipping service within 2 days to improve the efficiency of your port call, so come and scan the code to experience it!

The Red Sea crisis Suez Canal restrictions and Panama Canal transit time limitations have resulted in longer ship running times and miles globally. It is especially important to utilize smart shipping tools to avoid the high costs of congestion or detours in advance.

The help of smart shipping tools

Effective management of unforeseen events in maritime logistics is critical. Innovative smart shipping solutions can help freight forwarders, importers, exporters and logistics companies overcome the challenges of reduced canal capacity. Faced with the unique challenges of the Panama Canal, these tools enable companies to proactively identify and resolve anomalies in maritime logistics. 

1. Real-time exception notification

Exception management enables quick awareness of situations that are not occurring as planned, the development of alternative plans, proactive management of customer relationships, and efforts to reduce unnecessary costs and charges. This includes the transshipment of a vessel's cargo or a change in route.

2. Predicting the Expected Time of Arrival (ETA) of ships

Canal crises often lead to delays. ETA is available through smart shipping tools, enabling stakeholders to adapt to these disruptions and optimize their operational plans. These insights are invaluable for dynamically adjusting routes and subsequent scheduling.

3. Port congestion insights

A comprehensive understanding of port congestion in the vicinity of the Panama Canal is critical to keeping abreast of the evolving situation in the Panama Canal region. This information is essential not only for assessing the current situation, but also for predicting its future impact on other regions and ports.