Moderators Moderator_03 Posted December 22, 2023 Moderators Share Posted December 22, 2023 Quote 2023 the driest year in the history of the Panama Canal Posted 21/12/2023 Amid growing concern about the operation of the Panama Canal, several significant challenges have arisen. Recently, the Canal announced that starting next January it will increase daily transits to 24 to benefit its customers. Currently, the waterway registers the passage of 22 vessels a day, composed of six neopanamax and 16 panamax. This decision is due to restrictions imposed by the conditions of Gatun Lake, which has unprecedented minimum levels for this time of year. The shortage of water in the lake is attributed to the drought caused by the El Niño phenomenon. Ilya Espino de Marotta, deputy administrator of the Panama Canal, indicated that it is known that the summer of 2024 will not improve, being the first time that the Canal has reduced its traffic number to have a "competitive" draft. According to the engineer, every summer adjustments are made to the draft for Canal customers, who are already familiar, but on this occasion, the draft reduction has remained at 44 feet for almost all of 2023. “Usually this time of year we give 49 to 50 feet. The intention to reduce transits is to maintain a draft of 44 feet and we think that, at least until February, with 24 transits a day it can be maintained. We would have to see how we make this transfer from Alajuela to Gatún with all the water-saving measures that we are taking if we can maintain that 24 until May or if we will have to reduce again," she said. The average transit through the Canal is 36 to 38 ships per day. October 2023 was the driest month in the history of the Canal Basin. Anticipating the possibility of a worsening of the situation in November and December, it was decided to gradually adjust the number of daily transits to 24 in November, 22 in December, 20 in January and 18 in February. INCOME DOWN “Income per ton will ultimately decrease. That is an income that is made monthly, depending on the volume of tons that enter through the Canal. By reducing the number of transits and not being able to come up with the highest draft, that is reduced. However, the final income of the year is being compensated in some way by the auctions that have increased a little in cost compared to the traditional one because there are fewer quotas,” she said. According to Espino, 2023 is the driest year in the history of the Canal, the first being in 1997. In 2019, a dry year was also recorded, however, it is not compared to that recorded in 2015, 2023, and 1997. https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/2023-the-driest-year-in-the-history-of-the-panama-canal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_03 Posted January 10 Author Moderators Share Posted January 10 Quote Panama Canal ended 2023 with 30% less rain and no new reservoirs in sight Posted 09/01/2024 The year 2023 ended and the Panama Canal reservoir systems recorded a significant rainfall deficit. A 30% decrease in precipitation was reported compared to the historical average and currently, only 50% of the water that is usually collected and protected is stored. This was confirmed by Gloria Arrocha, meteorologist at the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), in a conversation with this The lack of rain caused a reduction in the number of ships that use the route, generating long waiting lines for the passage of ships. It is a hard blow for a Canal that uses fresh water for the passage of ships and that years before had lived under the scheme of going from 36 to 38 ships, thanks to its new locks. But climate change and the lack of a new reservoir are taking their toll on the trade route. The Panama Canal Authority (ACP), trying to decipher why the country does not react. and launch a project to create new water reservoirs. On January 7, Panama’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (Cciap) made a call to guarantee the future of the country through water. “The planning and construction of water reservoirs has been a pending task of the State for decades, essential both to guarantee and provide drinking water to the in its usual Sunday message. entire population, and for the operation of the Canal,” the union said. The board of directors of the ACP recommended to the Executive in September of last year the steps that must be taken to launch a new reservoir: Legal reforms are needed to expand the territory that is considered as the Canal basin and also eliminate the restriction to make reservoirs. The Government, however, has not made public its position on this vital issue, which is why the Chamber of Commerce emphasized the fact that the current water crisis - aggravated by the El Niño phenomenon - gives no other option. to act with “urgency and vision for the future.” The month of October 2023 marked a milestone in the climatic history of the Canal. It was the driest in 73 years. Remember that the phenomenon was declared since June 2023. And according to the World Meteorological Organization ( WMO ), El Niño will be present until April 2024, influencing the patterns that affect the increase in temperatures both on land and in the ocean. The Panama Canal has experienced its impact up close. “The 2023 rainfall total was 30% below average. This is the third worst year since 1950, only surpassed by 1997 and 2015. Indeed, El Niño has evolved from June until now and is in strong condition. In the coming months, it will be classified as very strong. https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama-canal-ended-2023-with-30-less-rain-and-no-new-reservoirs-in-sight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_03 Posted January 10 Author Moderators Share Posted January 10 Quote Foot-dragging in the midst of Canal water crisis Posted 10/01/2024 In September 2023, the board of directors of the Panama Canal sent a proposal to the Cabinet Council as part of its plan to confront the crisis due to low water levels for the passage of ships and human consumption. The document did not suggest the approval of a specific project, but reported on the need to make legal reforms to expand the limits of the hydrographic basin and eliminate the restriction on building reservoirs, according to Law 28 of 2006. It took the government three months to send a response which basically indicated the need to carry out a citizen consultation so that the Panama Canal Authority determines whether the residents of the Indio River area , where the reservoir would be built, agree with the project. The Canal board was asked to clarify whether they have held public consultations among citizens residing in the proposed area, to find out their opinions on the legal limits of the hydrographic basin of the Canal and the possibility of building reservoirs. The consultation has not officially been carried out, although it was in the Canal plans. Due to the order in which things have occurred, it seems that the Canal was waiting for the Government to first propose the legal reforms, unless they were wasting time in the middle of a crisis due to water scarcity. After receiving the reply the director of the Panama Canal Authority Aristides Royo , said that they will comply with that first step, when the Government makes a statement and proposes legal reforms that lift the restriction on building reservoirs. Royo specified that the consultation would be carried out and hoped that this will occur before the end of Cortizo 's administration (June 30, 2024). Royo assured yesterday, Tuesday, January 9, that a reservoir will not be built on the Indio River, "if the inhabitants of that area oppose" the idea of building a reservoir that guarantees the storage of water. According to information from the ACP, a reservoir like the one that could be built in the areas near the Indio River would affect approximately 2,000 people. https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/foot-dragging-in-the-midst-of-canal-water-crisis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_03 Posted January 29 Author Moderators Share Posted January 29 Quote Climate change threatens future of The Panama Canal Ships waiting around the Panama Canal. Photo: BBC Mundo. Posted 28/01/2024 Global shipping companies excited by the potential new routes that climate change and melting ice are opening up around the North Pole have gotten walloped by some unexpected bad news writes the Washington Post. The Panama Canal might be on its way out as one of the most critical routes of global trade, impaired by, yes, climate change. An epic drought in what was supposed to be Panama’s rainy season has brought the level of Gatún Lake — the freshwater reservoir that feeds the locks needed to move ships along the canal — to perilous lows, almost 6 feet below where they were a year ago. This has bottled up traffic in a waterway that handles about 5 percent of global maritime trade, including nearly half the containers shipped from ports in Northeast Asia to the eastern United States. Long queues of idle ships have formed at the ends of the canal. While recent rain allowed traffic to begin to reverse the steep decline that started in autumn, at 24 ships per day it remains well below the pre-drought transit of about 36. The tonnage of cargo through the canal fell from the start of the usual rainy season in May to September, pushing shippers to look for alternative routes and snarling supply chains in sectors such as agriculture and energy. The Panamanian government is scrambling to engineer a fix and save a canal that generates more than $3.3 billion in tolls, a major contributor to the country’s economy. Still, the prospect of continued drought raises a critical question: To what extent can a long-term solution be engineered in the face of inevitable changes to the climate? This is not just Panama’s problem. Drought in the Amazon rainforest this fall congested river shipping routes and threatened Brazil’s agricultural economy. Germany has proposed dredging parts of the Rhine after the worst drought to hit Europe in 500 years depressed water levels in 2022 and forced ships to sail at only 25 percent of capacity. The historic drought that afflicted the Mississippi, which carries nearly 500 million tons of cargo per year, required the dredging of shipping channels to keep the barges moving. The Panama Canal is in a particularly vulnerable position, requiring enormous amounts of fresh water to operate the locks that raise ships to cross this strip of land between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Much of this water is flushed out to sea — mixed with seawater and thus too briny to be diverted to agriculture or human consumption. The short-term fix is to release water from Lake Alajuela into the canal. But more water will be needed. And the government is considering more extreme measures, including a multibillion-dollar plan to dam the Indio River and create a reservoir from which to pump fresh water through a mountain into Lake Gatún. Another idea is to seed clouds to bring the rain back. The canal’s customers are getting antsy. Maybe Panamanians can engineer a fix that buys some time. But it’s not certain that Panama can come up with a definitive answer. Coming on top of other challenges — including the United States’ new protectionism and its rising tensions with China, as well as Houthi attacks snarling trade through the Suez Canal — the Panama drought adds to rising uncertainty over the future of globalization. Sure, some lucrative shipping routes have opened up in the Arctic. But what happens to the global economy if, along with everything else, companies must turn to moving cargo overland or shipping it around South America through the Strait of Magellan? It might seem callous to worry about the impact of climate change on global trade. Drought is causing no end of human suffering; Just in the Horn of Africa, 23 million people were severely food-insecure at the end of 2022 because of drought. Droughts, storms, and floods forced nearly 33 million people to migrate that year. And yet it would be foolhardy to ignore the impact of a changing climate on the driving forces of globalization. Threats to global growth will make it harder to address the plight of the most vulnerable. An impaired world economy will be hard-pressed to respond to poverty and hunger. Reengineering the environment is unlikely to offer a full solution, though. Maybe seeding clouds could help the Panama Canal. Other responses might present themselves in time. However creative engineering is likely to be needed all over the world in the coming decades to confront a variety of new climate-related humanitarian and infrastructure challenges. Ultimately, prevention, by arresting the emission of planet-warming greenhouse gases, is the only way to stop the list of looming climate-related threats to the global economy from getting even longer. https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/climate-change-threatens-future-of-the-panama-canal-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_03 Posted February 7 Author Moderators Share Posted February 7 Quote Restrictions in the Panama Canal could cut 4,000 annual transits Posted 06/02/2024 The recent restrictions in the Panama Canal due to the water crisis are triggering significant changes in global trade and the maritime routes of shipping companies. With a 33% reduction in transits, equivalent to 100 million tons of cargo, which has generated a 5% increase in transportation costs, the economic impact is undeniable. These figures reveal the urgency of adapting to new routes and logistics strategies to maintain efficiency in supply chains. An analysis by the consulting firm Mckinsey & Company warns about the increase in maritime transport costs the increase in merchandise delivery times and a change in routes in the global supply chain. The report states that the reduction in the number of transits has gone from 36 ships a day to 24 ships translates into 100 million tons of cargo no longer passing through the route, which is equivalent to 35% of what transited. through the interoceanic route in the fiscal year 2022. Mckinsey, which analyzes various scenarios according to the patterns of international maritime trade, indicates that Latin America and the east coast of the United States especially depend on the Canal for the supply of merchandise, raw materials, and fuel such as natural gas and oil. “A major trade route connecting North Asia, the East Coast, and the Gulf Coast of the United States passes through the Panama Canal. In total, approximately 14% of maritime trade to and from the United States sails through the Canal,” indicates the consulting firm. In turn, the road represents 2,544 million in contributions to the Panamanian State, according to the report at the end of fiscal year 2023. Other routes The McKinsey report indicates that the limitations imposed by the drought in the Channel are leading to a new configuration of global maritime routes, with the aggravation of greater costs and time. A ship traveling from Asia to the Caribbean that would normally cross east through the Panama Canal could instead go west around the Cape of Good Hope, at the southern tip of Africa. In this scenario, what would take 26 days to pass through the Canal would take 39 days to go around Africa. Another route would be that a ship traveling from the west coast of South America to the Caribbean, which would normally pass through the Panama Canal, could cross through the Strait of Magellan, at the southern tip of South America. This crossing would last 31 days, compared to the 6 days of the route through the Panama Canal. https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/restrictions-in-the-panama-canal-could-cut-4000-annual-transits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_03 Posted February 28 Author Moderators Share Posted February 28 Quote Canal generates $3,630 million for Panama economy while government dithers Posted 27/02/2024 The Panama Canal Authority (ACP ) generated direct and indirect economic contributions that totaled $3,630 million at the close of the 2O23 fiscal year. These contributions were achieved, Canal, despite the challenges that the maritime route faced including the economic impact of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and transit restrictions due to low levels of the Gatun Lake, caused by the El Niño phenomenon. This is a record achievement in direct and indirect economic contributions, the Canal administration stated in its 2023 report. The contributions include the $2,545 million that the Canal delivers to the State as part of its direct contribution. According to the Canal's measurements, they indirectly contributed $828 million to the country's economy, resulting from the payment of $510 million in net salaries to collaborators. In addition to $318 million in local purchases of goods and services, and payments to local suppliers as part of the investments in equipment and infrastructure that the ACP makes annually. Indirect contributions to the National Treasury reached $257 million, $19 million more than in 2022. These contributions are mainly made up of the payment of the employee-employer contribution to the Social Security Fund for $139 million, income tax for $105 million, and educational insurance for $13 million. According to recently revealed data, it is estimated that the Canal's direct contribution represents approximately 3% of the gross domestic product (GDP), while if indirect contributions and expenses in the economy are included, these contributions would reach around 4.5%. of GDP. These numbers reflect the economic importance of the Canal as an engine for the country's development, in times of high uncertainty due to the Government's inaction to confront the drought, while Gatún and Alajuela lakes remain below their optimal levels. On September 29, the ACP asked the Cabinet Council to consider the approval of the resolution that endorses new limits of the hydrographic basin and also requested the presentation of a bill that would allow lifting restrictions on building reservoirs in the country. With no answers in sight, it is understood that the issue has been archived, so it will be up to the next administration to make decisions. For now, according to the Canal's guide curve, the level of Gatun Lake should be 86.98 feet above sea level under normal meteorological conditions, but it is 80.83 feet above sea level, or 6 feet less than where it should be for the present day. https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/canal-generates-3630-million-for-panama-economy-while-government-dithers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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