Starting Thursday, 16
May, the Panama Canal Authority has increased the daily number of ships allowed
to transit the waterway from 24 to 31.
Peter Sand, Chief
Analyst at the Oslo-based firm Xeneta,
says the increase will provide limited
relief for container shipping services, since the increase corresponds additional
slots in the smaller panamax locks. However, a more meaningful change is
anticipated on June 1, with an additional transit slot for larger Neopanamax
ships (including containerships), which will raise the daily total to 32.
Meanwhile, authorities also plan to increase the draft limits for Neopanamax
ships from 44 feet to 45 feet on June 15, bringing it closer to the normal
limit of 50 feet.
The disruption caused by the water shortage in the
Panama Canal has had a significant impact on scheduling reliability and spot
rates.
As the Panama Canal
slowly transitions towards normal operations, Sand says businesses need to be
prepared for a slow recovery that is dependent on unpredictable factors like
rainfall. While hopes for a return to ‘normal’ are high, the reality may be a
different.
“Xeneta has long-held
the position that the impact of drought in the Panama Canal will be felt for
years rather than months,” Sand says.