Panama Canal to Reduce Ship Transits Due to Drought Caused by El Niño

The Panama Canal plans to reduce the number of ships transiting its waters, following a similar measure implemented earlier this month in response to the impacts of the El Niño climate phenomenon.

Panama declared a national emergency due to El Niño, a recurring event that happens every two to seven years when sea surface temperatures rise in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, leading to significant changes in wind patterns, atmospheric pressure, and precipitation worldwide over several months.

This has caused a severe drought in Central America, creating major challenges for the canal, which handles about 5% of global trade.

The Panama Canal Authority had previously reduced daily transits from 36 to 32 ships on September 4 to conserve water resources, and now plans to further reduce the average to 29.5 daily transits starting in October, according to a budget proposal submitted to parliament.

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

This comes at a time when the Panama Canal’s importance has increased due to disruptions in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz amid the war between the United States and Iran, as the strait serves as a passage for about one-fifth of global oil and gas trade.