For several months now, the drought caused by the El Niño phenomenon has continued to have an impact on the Panama Canal's reservoir system, reducing the number of ships allowed through.
October 2023 was the driest month in 73 years. Rainfall was 41% below normal, lowering the level of Lake Gatun to an unprecedented level for this time of year.
Now, with less than 2 months to go before the end of the rainy season, the Panama Canal has announced new measures for the coming months: the number of passages is reduced to 24 ships per day until November 30, 2023, to 22 ships per day from December 1 to 31, 2023, to 20 ships per day from January 1 to 31, 2024 and then to 18 ships per day from February 1, 2024.