Shipowners were facing more delays transiting the Panama Canal after a fire broke out on Thursday.
The small blaze started in machines that operate the historic Miraflores lock at the waterway.
Operations at the lock were suspended temporarily as a safety measure, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) said, but other locks were working normally.
“No injuries were reported,” it added.
The fire began in one of the upper chamber tunnels where the lock machinery is housed.
In a later update, the ACP said transits resumed a few hours after the incident was reported.
The causes were being investigated.
The locks are huge concrete basins that fill with, or are emptied of, millions of litres of water to raise or lower vessels.
The Miraflores lock is more than 100 years old and is on the Pacific side.
Delays at the Panama Canal have already added to shipping congestion.
Waiting time was reported to be 23 days northbound and 19 days southbound at the end of November.
Shipowners paying up to pass through early
Shipowners have been paying up to $2m for the privilege of jumping long queues at the waterway.
VLGC owner BW LPG’s commercial executive vice president, Niels Rigault, told a conference call with analysts that demand for transit slots has “exploded”.
The ACP offers a limited number of reserved crossing times via auctions.
Last year, it said the base auction amount for a neo-panamax slot was $93,500.
