Panama Canal to reduce shipping over El Nino-fuelled drought

The Panama Canal will cut the number of ships passing through it starting next month because of drought caused by the El Nino phenomenon, the operator of the strategic waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific said on Thursday.

From September 3, the number of vessels allowed through each day will fall from 36 to 34 due to low water levels in two artificial lakes that feed the canal, the Panama Canal Authority said.

It will drop to 32 from September 15 on, the agency said.

Central America is in the throes of a severe drought driven by El Nino, a weather pattern that warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, triggering worldwide changes in winds, atmospheric pressure and rainfall.

In the area of the canal rainfall from May to August is down by 34 per cent from its historical average, the authority said, adding that El Nino could cut it even more.

The Panama Canal handles five per cent of global maritime trade and around 40 per cent of US container traffic.