The Panama Canal began reducing the number of ships allowed to cross the waterway on Friday, as a decline in rainfall linked to the El Niño weather pattern forces authorities to conserve water.
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) said the route, which connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and carries 5% of the world's maritime trade, will progressively cut its daily crossings from 36 to 32.
The canal relies on rainwater stored in the artificial lakes of Gatun and Alajuela, both of which have dropped due to a drought caused by El Niño. The ACP said the phenomenon is shaping up to be the most intense ever recorded and has prompted the government to place the entire country on alert.
Friday's schedule allowed for 34 crossings, and from September 15 the maximum will fall to 32 vessels a day.
First ships under new restrictions
According to information the ACP gave to AFP, the Singapore-flagged chemical tanker Bow Tanaka was the first vessel to pass through the interoceanic route under the new restrictions. It entered via the Miraflores locks in Panama City on the Pacific side at around 02:00 local time (07:00 GMT) on Friday. The specialist tracking site vesselfinder.com showed the ship heading to Houston, in the United States.
Half an hour later, the Gas Changjiang, another Singapore-flagged vessel that typically transports liquefied petroleum gas, followed the same route toward Houston through the Cocoli locks in Arraijan, next to the Panamanian capital.
On the Atlantic side, the first ship through was the Bahamas-flagged car carrier Hamabo Leader, which entered just after 02:45 local time (07:45 GMT) via the Agua Clara locks in the Caribbean province of Colon. Its destination is San Diego, in the United States.
Water-saving measures
The ACP, an autonomous state entity, had already introduced other water-saving measures in recent months, including limiting the draft of vessels, the depth to which a ship sits in the water. A shallower draft means a ship displaces less water.
The canal's maximum draft is 15.24 meters, and it has been reduced to 14.63 meters.
The ACP had announced days earlier that the draft would fall further, to 14.47 meters, from October 1. But it postponed that measure on Friday, citing the most recent evaluation of Gatun lake levels and weather forecasts.
The authority said keeping the current draft gives customers greater continuity for planning their voyages and scheduling their vessels.
Echoes of 2023 restrictions
The Panama Canal, built in the early 20th century, is one of the world's most important shipping routes, allowing vessels to avoid the long journey around South America. El Niño is a natural climate pattern involving the warming of Pacific Ocean waters that disrupts rainfall and weather patterns across the globe.
In 2023, El Niño forced the ACP to cut daily transits from 38 to 22 after the canal's lakes fell to minimum levels.
The authority did not rule out taking further restrictive measures depending on rainfall in the coming weeks.
