The Panama Canal will reduce the number of daily transit slots available to vessels from September 3, as persistently low rainfall continues to put pressure on water levels in the canal's watershed, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has announced.

Under the changes, set out in a notification issued Thursday, daily slots at the Neopanamax locks will fall to nine, while the Panamax locks will be allocated 25 slots per day. From September 15, the Panamax allocation will be reduced further, to 23 daily slots. Taken together, the two lock sets will offer 34 daily transits, easing to 32 from mid-September, below the 36 transits the canal can accommodate under normal water conditions.

Alongside the capacity cuts, the canal will also restructure its auction system, dividing available slots into four cargo groups covering LNG and LPG carriers, dry bulk and general cargo vessels, containerships and vehicle carriers, and tankers. The dedicated gas-carrier category reflects the segment's heavy reliance on the waterway, which serves as the main shortcut for US Gulf Coast LNG and LPG exports bound for Asian markets. During the severe 2023-24 drought, when daily transits were cut to as few as 22, carriers in that trade paid record auction premiums for scarce slots and some operators diverted to longer routes around the constraints.

The authority warned that the lower daily capacity could increase waiting times for vessels arriving without reservations, and urged customers to make use of its booking system.

In a partial offset, planned draft restrictions at the Neopanamax locks will be delayed. The maximum authorised draft of 14.63 m (48 feet) will remain in place until September 2, while a planned reduction to 14.48 m (47.5 feet) has been pushed back to October 1.

The ACP said it will continue to monitor rainfall, watershed inflows and lake levels, and could make further operational changes if conditions deteriorate. The next scheduled milestones are the September 15 slot reduction and the October 1 draft change, with rainfall during the remainder of the wet season, which in the canal's watershed typically runs from about May to December, the key variable the authority says it is watching.

The Panama Canal, an approximately 80-kilometre waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and one of the world's most important shipping routes, handling roughly 5 percent of global seaborne trade, relies on freshwater from Gatun Lake to operate its lock system, with each transit drawing on large volumes of lake water. Because of that dependence, prolonged dry periods in the watershed have repeatedly forced the authority to adjust transit capacity and draft limits in recent years, and the ACP has proposed longer-term water-supply projects, including a new reservoir on the Indio River, to reduce the canal's exposure to drought.

The Panama Canal Authority's notification was reported by the Ship & Bunker News Team.