Starting Sunday, the Panama Canal, the premiere trade gateway used by U.S. shippers for the Gulf and East Coast ports, will be restricting large ships because of low water levels caused by ongoing drought conditions. That will equate to an approximate 40% drop of cargo on some containerships, making it more expensive for shippers to move containerized goods, and hitting many key sectors of the U.S. economy, from agriculture to energy and retail.
But U.S. shippers and industry analysts are concerned about additional freshwater surcharges being imposed because of the drop in water levels. Fees have already been rising. In 2020, the canal imposed a fixed charge of $10,000 per transit along with a toll on a percentage of the carrying capacity of the vessel. That toll could be a minimum of one percent to a maximum of 10 percent.
"We are going to make a presentation to our board of directors this month," he said, adding that an action plan is being developed. "In all the considerations that we have, I think that it is probable that we will give a break to our customers," Vásquez said. "I think that we have to give a break to the industry in order to assure that we remained a viable route in the long term.
"The first water surcharge was for a different reason but now it's so severe [drought] that we may have to revisit that alternative as well," Vásquez said. "So this is probably something that we're gonna discuss to put it in effect for next fiscal year, effective October 1."
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