Containerships weather Panama drought

Capacity at the crucial route between the Americas has been reduced since March last year owing to low water levels caused by a delayed rainy season.

Monthly data from the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) shows that while the total number of transits across all commercial shipping sectors is down, containerships are growing their share as other shipping sectors are increasingly bypassing the waterway.

ACP’s data for December 2023 shows that monthly transits were down by about 25% compared to October 2023. Draughts for the largest ships have been reduced by six feet, meaning payloads for a Neopanamax could be reduced by around 2,000 teu.

Transit numbers stand at 24 per day, a long way down from pre-restriction levels of 35 to 40 plus.

Containerships are mostly avoiding long queues thanks to a pre-booking system but are still being challenged by the reduced numbers of permissible transits. However, the vacating of the route by other sectors such as dry bulk has increased containerships’ share of transits to 30.6%, a rise of five percentage points over October figures.