At the beginning of this month the Supreme Court of Justice of Panama ⚖️ has declared unconstitutional a law that limits the limits of the Panama Canal (Law 20 of June 21, 2006).
The court’s ruling returns the Río Indio to the territory of the Panama Canal. Building a reservoir in the Rio Indio is seen as the long term solution to ensure water availability for the Panama Canal. So now, only the law that prohibits the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) from making reservoirs will have to be changed to be able to develop the project.
The new reservoir project that the Canal wants to build is estimated to cost $1.2 billion, with an additional $400 million for investments in neighbouring communities. It would like take 6 years to build, including consulting then nearby communities.
The new Minister for Canal Affairs, Jose Ramón Icaza Clément, said that he will address the issue of the Indio River during a Panama Canal Board meeting last Thursday.
The short-term situation also looks promising due to the increase in rain, raising the water levels of Gatun Lake.
Last week the Panama Canal announced an increase in the booking slots to 35 ships per day 🛳️, starting August 5. This is one step away from reaching 36 transits per day, which is the normal number of ships passing through the Canal. From a projected reduction to 18 per day at the beginning of 2024 due to the drought to 35 ships each day for this August.
In addition, the maximum authorized draft for the Neopanamax locks was raised from 46 to 47 feet (14.33 meters), and will increase to 48 feet (14.063 meters) on July 11.
According to the administrator of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), Ricuarte Vasquez, raising the draft to 48 feet will mean an increase in the loading capacity of the ships that transit the canal, adding at least 350 additional containers to the load of vessels that pass on average with 12,000 containers.
Read more on the Court’s decision, the Rio Indio project and draft increases.