Drought forces Canal to decrease the draft of neopanamax ships

The Panama Canal will gradually decrease, to 43 feet (13.11 meters), the maximum draft in the neopanamax locks due to the drought that the country is going that has reduced the artificial lakes that feed the interoceanic highway.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) made the announcement in a navigation notice in which it cites that “it corrects the draft in meters of the 3.0-foot restriction and separates dates and draft restrictions per set of locks”.

Starting Monday, the Canal offers the neopanamax ships, which are three times the size of the vessels that pass through the centenary locks, a draft of 44 feet (13.41 meters), which will be reduced to 43.5 feet (13.26 meters) on June 25 and 43 feet (13.11 meters) from July 19.

The maximum draft offered by the expansion of the canal is 50 feet.

The ACP “will continue to monitor the level of Gatun Lake and will announce future draft adjustments in a timely manner,” the navigation notice highlights.

Already on April 19, the waterway began to implement its fifth draft restriction for Neopanamax vessels, which were offered a draft of 47.5 feet.

The draft is the depth that the submerged part of a boat reaches in the water. In practice, its reduction implies that ships must reduce the volume of cargo they carry when they cross the interoceanic route, through which about 6% of world trade passes. The adjustments are related to the prolongation of the dry season that Panama is going through, a situation that has caused water supply problems and has forced the authorities to declare a “state of environmental emergency.”

The Canal is fed by two artificial lakes of Gatún and Alhajuela which also supply water to the Panamanian capital and surrounding areas.