Panama Canal reduces ship traffic due to the El Niño climate phenomenon

The Panama Canal has begun reducing the number of transiting vessels in its waters due to lower rainfall levels caused by the El Niño climate phenomenon. The Panama Canal Authority announced that declining water levels in two artificial lakes that supply the canal have forced it to take this measure.

The number of daily transits through the waterway, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, will be gradually reduced from 36 to 32 ships by mid-September.

Panama has declared a nationwide state of emergency due to El Niño.

El Niño is a natural phenomenon that recurs every two to seven years when sea surface temperatures rise in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, leading to fundamental changes in wind patterns, atmospheric pressure, and precipitation worldwide over several months.

Most forecasts indicate that this year’s El Niño will be the strongest since similar data records began four decades ago.

Although the phenomenon has not yet peaked, Central America is already experiencing worsening drought, prompting Honduras and El Salvador to declare states of alert as well.

About 5 percent of global maritime trade passes through this 80-kilometer-long canal, with the United States and China among its most prominent users.

Other water conservation measures have been implemented, such as reducing ship drafts (the distance between the waterline and the bottom of the ship’s hull). In 2023, the Canal Authority was forced to cut daily transits to 22 ships due to the impacts of El Niño.