Shipping & LogisticsIndustry news
Panama Canal new capacity cuts put US ports on notice
One of ocean shipping’s critical chokepoints just got a little tighter. The Panama Canal Authority in an advisory to shipping reduced daily vessel transits beginning in September and postponed previously announced draft increases for Neopanamax vessels. The measures reflect a deteriorating outlook linked to below-average rainfall and the prospect of a severe 2026–2027 El Niño weather event. The early warning indicates that the water supply in Lake Gatun supplying the canal’s lock system is again becoming a direct constraint on the reliability, cost and routing of cargo moving through U.S. East