Pan Canal

[James Curry]

Not sure if this is recent news or an ongoing problem?



Drought in what should be the rainy season is leading to an expensive logjam in the vital waterway
More than 200 vessels are stuck waiting to pass through the Panama Canal, one of the world’s most important shipping routes, because of a dramatic fall in water levels.

The “famed” canal is “now home to the planet’s biggest traffic jam”, which is “threatening to ensnarl the holiday shipping season” and “raising alarm among canal officials”, said ABC News

Reported 30th August 2023

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/othe...de/ar-AA1g5ATm

[Ivan Cloherty]

Apparently there are no delays for container vessels on fixed routes/schedules, the problem has been added to by bulk carriers and tankers ignoring draft restrictions. The problem has been occuring ever since the new locks opened as they are using more water than anticipated in the transfer system lock-to-lock and the lakes cannot handle the extra requirements and maintain their levels. Seems in the calculations someone neglected the wasteage factor in constant transfer backwards and forwards in millions of litres of FW on every vessel transitting