News / Panama Canal problems may prompt strategy re-think in shipper boardrooms

Photo: © Richardpross

Persistent low water levels in the Panama Canal are raising questions for cargo owners on the strategic validity of a route that helped many circumnavigate congested US west coast ports.

Owing to a drought that has reduced water levels in the canal and its watershed and adjacent rivers, which supply fresh water to several cities, including the capital, the canal authority (CPA) had to implement restrictions on shipping, limiting the number of daily transits and the draught ...