FMC Examining Panama Canal Response to Low Water Levels
Members of the Federal Maritime Commission are traveling to the Panama Canal this week to examine the supply chain aftereffects from a recent drought (see 2401180050). The FMC also will review the measures the Panamanian government and the Panama Canal Authority “have identified to improve the infrastructure of the Canal and make it more resilient to any future disruptions, particularly droughts.”
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The FMC delegates, including Chair Daniel Maffei and Commissioner Louis Sola, plan to meet with senior Panamanian government officials, the senior leadership of the Panama Canal Authority, Panama Ship Registration, U.S. businesses operating in Panama and U.S. diplomats in Panama, the commission said. “The FMC delegation also wants to understand the merits of the responses being considered, the complexity of completing them, their costs, and challenges unique to each project.”
The canal has operated at a reduced transit capacity in recent months due to low water levels but has been increasing its daily transits this year.
The commission called the canal a “vital transitway” for U.S.-linked ocean supply chains, and any capacity reductions, including those caused by droughts, “can lead to increased costs, fewer vessels of fewer types being able to transit, and of particular concern to U.S. companies and consumers, logistical inefficiencies that have consequences from origin to destination.”