The prolonged drought has jeopardized the Panama Canal, one of the vital navigation routes for the global transit of merchandise ships.
Freighters are piled up and suffer long waits, up to nearly a month, to obtain authorization to pass. The low flow due to the months without rain and the measures applied to conserve water favor this traffic jam, which has reached over 200 stranded ships, unable to take the cargo to its destination.
The restrictions are already causing spot shipping prices between China and the United States to rise as much as 36% amid very high sea temperatures that climatologists stress can fuel extreme weather.
The authorities that regulate the Panama Canal have reduced the maximum weight of ships and the daily crossing to 32, with the aim of fluvial preservation. Experts fear that this is "the new normal" due to the rainfall deficit in the fifth rainiest country in the world and underline the climatic risks that affect the maritime transport industry, which moves 80% of world trade.
Ship owners have the option of carrying less cargo, choosing alternative routes that add thousands of kilometers to the journey, or dealing with those long lines and weeks of waiting. Those most affected by the jam are bulk cargo ships or gas carriers.
According to sources from the commercial firm Dorian LPG, which manages around twenty ships that transport gas, the delays change daily. If they make the decision to navigate through the Panama Canal, then there is no turning back to undo the path or take a detour, as if it were a trap.
The rainy season is arriving very late in that region, while the canal needs three times the equivalent of daily water consumption in New York City. The canal practically depends on rainfall for its replacement.
If not enough rain is collected, The Wall Street Journal said in an analysis, the cut in the number of ships allowed to sail will continue and those that do will have to pay high premiums. This will translate into even higher prices for carrier owners such as US oil and gas exporters and Asian importers. Even under the impact of inflation, all these circumstances will have repercussions and will ultimately put pressure on the prices of consumer goods.
Because the draft has been reduced from 50 feet to 44 feet, many freighters have to empty containers before setting sail.
Ricaurte Vásquez Morales, administrator of the Panama Canal, warned that the restrictions could be maintained for the rest of the year. He estimated a profit decline of about $200 million.
As a palliative, the Panamanian government has contacted the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which built the canal at the beginning of the 20th century, to carry out the project of diverting four rivers towards the waterway, which would be added to the three that already they feed it and whose flow is greatly reduced.
