After more than a year of restrictions caused by an el-nino induced drought, the Panama Canal will be returning to near normal operations by the middle of July, while the same cannot be said about the Suez Canal.
The Panama Canal Authority (PCA) have announced that from 22nd July the maximum number of vessel transits will rise to 34 per day, which is the lower end of the average 34-38 daily transits in normal conditions.
At the lowest point of the severe drought, only 20 vessels were allowed to pass per day, as major congestion and delays impacted the Central American waterway.
The canal is the only crossing point for containerships between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and is therefore seen as essential to global trade.
Also essential to global trade is the Suez Canal. The state-owned Egyptian waterway has been financially impacted since the majority of carriers started to route containerships away from the Red Sea area due to Houthi attacks.
Suez Canal volumes dropped last month to 44.9 million tonnes, 68.5% lower than the 142.9 million tonnes in May 2023. In turn, revenues dropped to $337.8 million in May, which is 64.3% less than the $648 million from May last year.
