The Panama Canal Authority has announced another increase in daily crossings, given the arrival of the rainy season and the latest water levels at Gatun Lake.
On July 22, the number of daily panamax transits will rise by one to 25.
Earlier than that, on 11 July, as many as nine vessels will be allowed to go through the neopanamax locks, up from eight previously.
“Additionally, an increase in draught from 45 to 46 feet [13.7 metres to 14 metres] was announced, effective 15 June,” the canal authority added.
The changes mean that, by late July, a total of 34 ships will be able to transit through the waterway each day.
This is almost twice as many as the 18 crossings that the canal authority was initially planning to curtail traffic, in a shock announcement last October.
Parts of these original cuts, however, were reversed quickly, and levels from July on will be close to the canal’s regular scenario, which allows 10 neopanamaxes and 26 classic panamaxes to transit.
The rainy season in Central America has allowed the Panama Canal Authority to ease May draught restrictions early.
The move by the government-run authority will provide relief to supply chains affected by transit limits on the shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, although many shipowners and operators have profited from the rates boost caused by a clogged waterway.
