For the second time this month, officials have held fire on planned draught restrictions in the Panama Canal that would have shut out some of the largest ships that fit through its newest locks.
The move comes as weather conditions have brought some relief to drought conditions that have impacted water levels at Gatun Lake, which is part of the waterway.
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) had been planning to cut maximum draughts to 15.09 metres in the neo-panamax locks on 1 March, down from the regular maximum draught of 15.24 metres, because of projected water levels.
But the latest postponement of those measures means that the restrictions are not expected to enter force until 24 March at the earliest.
“Recent precipitation in the canal watershed in the past few days has allowed the Panama Canal Authority to postpone once again the draught adjustment,” wrote deputy administrator Ilya Espino de Marotta, in an advisory to shipping.
She said the ACP plans to continue to monitor Gatun Lake.
The postponements of the restrictions mean that so far, the Panama Canal has averted conditions that led to more severe draught caps in 2019.
But the ebbing water levels remain a long-term challenge for ACP, which is planning a $2bn engineering project to alleviate the problem.
Under current plans, the ACP will further limit cap draughts at 14.94 metres on 9 April.
