Capesize is the new Panamax

The Panama Canal will increase the maximum authorized draft to 45 feet, due to the stabilization of water levels of Gatun Lake.

Container shipping companies are responding to the rising cost of using the Panama Canal by charging their customers additional fees.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has had to impose further restrictions on vessel transits as a result of the country’s driest October in 73 years. Since April, the ACP has been forced to cut the navigable draught in the canal and the number of daily transits because of the region’s drought and to ensure the safe passage of its customers’ ships.

Rotterdam and Antwerp-Bruges, which are Europe’s two largest container ports, have both suffered declines in their throughputs for the first nine months of 2023. Overall traffic at both ports was also down on the same period of 2022.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) continues to implement measures to ensure that a sufficient supply of fresh water is available in the lakes and reservoirs for both the country’s population and the locks in the canal.

The Netherlands and Colombia are preparing a treaty to intensify bilateral cooperation in the fight against drugs trafficking.