Panama Canal cuts daily capacity on watershed deficit—again

Worsening rainfall deficits have prompted yet another daily capacity reduction at the Panama Canal, the waterway’s authority (ACP for its Spanish acronym) confirmed via an Advisory to Shipping.

Effective September 4, total daily transits will drop from 36 to 34 vessels, with Neopanamax locks offering nine slots and Panamax locks offering 25. Availability will tighten further on September 15, when Panamax capacity decreases to 23 slots, lowering total daily passages to 32.

Precipitation in the canal watershed between May and August fell 34 percent below the historical average, while water inflows dropped 44 percent below normal levels, the ACP noted in the update.

“Despite the arrival of the rainy season in Panama, and the water-saving measures implemented to mitigate the adverse effects of the El Niño event, current watershed conditions, including below-expected precipitation in the canal watershed, require additional action to support the long-term sustainability of transit operations,” the ACP stated on its website.

The severity of the 2026/27 weather phenomenon is expected to cause additional precipitation deficits through the remainder of the wet season. The ACP warned that this could further strain water reserves during the January-April 2027 dry period.

Canal contingency plan already in place

To mitigate immediate cargo capacity impacts, the authority postponed planned maximum authorized draft restrictions for Neopanamax locks. The draft limit cut to 48 feet, originally scheduled for August 26, will now take effect September 2. A secondary draft reduction to 47.5 feet has been moved from September 3 to October 1.

Under the updated framework, daily auction allocations will categorize vessels into four distinct trade groups. Container ships, vehicle carriers, roll-on/roll-off vessels, and refrigerated ships will compete in a single dedicated group. Fully laden Neopanamax container ships with the highest container capacity will receive preference, and the authority will use customer ranking to resolve tiebreakers.

"The experience of 2023 and 2024 has prepared us well for what we know and has given us the discipline to deal with what we do not know," Administrator Ricaurte Vasquez said. "The canal does not improvise."

The authority emphasized that a confirmed reservation serves as the only mechanism guaranteeing a transit date, warning that unreserved vessels face extended wait times. If a reserved slot is canceled under these temporary measures, the vessel will not incur penalties or cancellation fees.

*Main photo by ACP | All other images are referential via Unsplash

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