The Panama Canal has announced that as of November 1st, the number of transits through the Canal will be adjusted to 31 transits per day: nine through the Neopanamax locks and 22 through the Panamax locks.
As previously announced by the Panama Canal Authority, the Canal is maintaining the draft at 44 feet and the number of transits between 30 and 32 per day. Furthermore, changes will be made to the booking system, introducing Operating Condition 5. Under this condition, the daily transit reservation quotas will be adjusted to a maximum of 30 reservations: eight in the Neopanamax locks and the difference in the Panamax locks.
To allow customers to adjust their itineraries and reduce waiting times for vessels that do not have a reservation, Condition 3 will be in effect from October 4 to 31, limiting the total number of reservations at the Panamax locks to a total of 14. This measure aims to manage the number of vessels on standby and ensures that vessels en route or in queue, which have not been booked, can transit within reasonable timeframes.
The Canal also presented the following figures and compared them to same time last year, to show that the situation remains under control.
September 2022 | Today | |
Panamax | 71 | 81 |
Neopanamax | 26 | 12 |
Total | 97 | 93 |