Vessel Queue at Panama Canal Hits Three-Month High
The backlog of vessels waiting to transit the Panama Canal has climbed to reach its highest level since April, 70% of which were seeking passage through the original Panamax locks, data from the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) showed.
The total number of vessels awaiting transit at the Panama Canal reached 121 on Wednesday, the highest number recorded since April 22 when 125 vessels were queueing.
The overwhelming majority of vessels continue to be looking to transit the Panamax Locks, with 65 booked ships and 20 unbooked vessels in the queue. At the Neopanamax Locks, there were 30 booked ships and six unbooked on Wednesday.
Waiting times at both Neopanamax and Panamax Locks have also ticked higher, specially for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers. Neopanamax Locks were seven days northbound and three days southbound on Thursday, compared to five and two days, respectively, a week earlier. Panamax locks estimated transit times were two days northbound and five days southbound on Thursday, up from one day each a week earlier.
Effective July 25, the ACP temporarily introduced halted daily auctions for the Panamax Locks, as well as reducing the Panama Canal’s daily transit capacity to 34 vessels, from 36 previously. The suspension did not apply to the Neopanamax Locks.
However, the ACP has since resumed daily transit auctions for the Panamax Locks and transit capacity has been returned to 36 vessels/day.
The suspensions were part of ACP protocol to ensure safe operations amid the possible development of a severe El Niño event. The ACP noted that the probability of a severe event has increased to 81% compared to estimates of around 25% in April.
Additionally, the ACP cut the maximum draft for ships using the Neopanamax Locks to 14.94 meters, or 49 feet, from July 24, and will again reduce draft to 14.78 meters or 48.5 feet on Aug. 15, both as a preventive measure.
Gatun Lake Depth Falls
Gatun Lake depth has been on the decline since late March and fell below 85 feet for the first time since Aug. 8, 2024, on July 3, data from the ACP and agent Boyd Steamship showed.
With disruption to commodity flows in the Middle East and both the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, Asia’s attention for supply has been fixed on the U.S., which in turn has increased pressures on the Panama Canal.
Consequently, auction fees have started to climb once more, particularly for northbound transits, shipbrokers indicated.
For LPG carriers, Japanese trading house Astomos paid $3.76 million for a northbound slot at the Neopanamax Locks on Aug. 2 for its Astomos Venus, while Helios booked a slot for the same date and direction at $3.55 million for its Future Japan, shipbrokers indicated.
The Astomos Venus has been sat at the south anchorage of the canal since July 19, while the Future Japan has been at anchor since July 16, OPIS shipping data showed.
The fees were just short of the $4 million paid for a southbound transit slot on April 8 by China’s Wanhua, an all-time high for transit fees across all segments. The fee was the highest for an LPG transit, breaking the previous high of $3.98 million back on Nov. 8, 2023, OPIS data showed.
At $4 million, the transit equates to around $90/metric ton on a standard 44,000 mt basis. The base rate for a Neopanamax Lock transit slot is $100,000.
–Reporting by Jamie Aldridge, jaldridge@opisnet.com; Editing by Rob Sheridan, rsheridan@opisnet.com