NEWS
Drought forces shipping restrictions on Panama Canal
Shipping restrictions imposed by Panama Canal Authority are set to impact US ocean freight movements
In recent weeks Panama has been facing unusually dry conditions, with areas surrounding the Panama Canal experiencing particularly low rainfall, leading to a drop in the waterway’s capacity. The Panama Canal connects over 144 ocean shipping routes, serving 1,700 ports in 160 nations.
In response, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has introduced shipping restrictions which require container vessels to lighten loads of Asia - US East Coast (USEC), Panama and Pendulum loops by either reducing carrying capacity, or limiting the weight of goods passing through.
This will impact shipping into the US from Europe to the US West Coast (USWC) and Asia to USEC. Transpacific carriers are redirecting services via alternative routes, such as the Suez Canal.
How can Woodland Help?
Woodland offers a range of specialist services to help mitigate the impact on your supply chain. Our expert local teams placed across the globe are able to deliver alternative routings and global support to avoid any major challenges.
Depending on the impact of these measures on capacity and rate, volume from Asia may shift from Gulf and East Coast ports back to the West Coast ports, which would see a change in the recent trend of many shippers looking for alternative routings to LA/Long Beach following 2 years of congestion and industrial action. EU shippers could also choose to redirect their goods bound for Western US destinations to ship via the US East or Gulf Coast.
Woodland can support any of these supply chain changes with our IPI or transloading services from LA, New York and Chicago, which can help reduce any of the potential effects of these measures. In the case of significant impact, we also offer owned warehousing solutions for transload and crossdock services.