The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that the Panama Canal Authority (APC) will increase the number of booking slots to 35 vessels in August. They write:
The Panama Canal Authority (APC) announced this month that it will increase the number of daily booking slots for vessels transiting the Panama Canal to 35 in August, easing rules that restricted shipping traffic through the narrow waterway since last year. The APC increased booking slots following higher rainfall at Gatún Lake, increasing Neopanamax crossings of the canal’s larger locks to 10 vessels and Panamax crossings of the smaller locks to 25 vessels.
The Panama Canal reduced traffic due to a historic drought at Gatún Lake last year. Water levels at Gatún Lake, which supplies the water used to operate the canal’s locks, were the lowest since at least 1965. […]
The APC expects more rainfall during the rainy season that lasts from May to December because of an expected La Niña this summer, which could result in normal operations this summer or fall.
Read more here.
