LatinNews Daily - 21 August 2026

*The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has announced that it will cap daily transits through the Panama Canal at 34 as of 3 September (including nine at the Neopanamax locks and 25 at the Panamax locks). As of 15 September, these will be reduced to 32 in total (nine at the Neopanamax locks and 23 at the Panamax locks). A 22 July ACP report said that as of 30 June FY2026, the Panama Canal averaged 35 daily transits, with a total of 10,726 transits during the current fiscal year (October–June), a 5.2% increase from the 10,191 transits recorded during the same period in FY2025. In a statement released yesterday, the ACP says that “despite the arrival of the rainy season in Panama, and the water-saving measures implemented by the Panama Canal to mitigate the adverse effects of the El Niño [weather] event, current watershed conditions, including below-expected precipitation in the Canal watershed, require additional action to support the long-term sustainability of transit operations”. The ACP statement adds that based on current water levels in Gatún Lake, which feeds the locks, and the “latest weather projections”, the ACP will postpone until 2 September 2026 the maximum authorised draft of 48.0 feet (14.63 metres) in the Neopanamax locks, scheduled to become effective on 26 August, while the maximum authorised draft adjustment of 47.5 feet, scheduled to become effective on 3 September 2026, would be postponed until 1 October 2026.

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