Panama Canal may cut ship traffic further as El Niño strengthens
Canal authorities may further reduce ship traffic if a strengthening El Niño worsens the country's drought.
Panama could impose further cuts on the number of ships sailing through the Panama Canal, an official said, as a strengthening El Niño raises fears of water shortages at one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes.
The warning from the new administrator of the Panama Canal Authority, Ilya Espino de Marotta, on Monday came after the government declared a nationwide state of emergency over El Niño on August 26.
The canal, which handles 5 percent of global maritime trade, has already reduced the maximum number of ships allowed through daily, from 36 last month to 34 starting on September 4.
That dependence makes the 80km (50-mile) canal particularly vulnerable to prolonged dry weather, and levels in both reservoirs have already dropped with the onset of El Niño.