Panama City [Panama], September 8: The number of ships sailing through the Panama Canal could be cut further due to drought caused by the El Nino weather pattern, the new administrator of the waterway told AFP on Monday.
Panama has declared a nationwide emergency over El Nino, a phenomenon developing over the Pacific Ocean that is affecting worldwide weather patterns and pushing up global temperatures. This year's El Nino is expected to be the strongest since record-keeping began four decades ago.
The interoceanic Panama Canal -- which handles 5% of global maritime trade -- has already reduced the maximum number of ships allowed through daily, from 36 last month to 32 by mid-September.
It operates using rainwater that collects in two reservoirs, whose levels have dropped due to the onset of El Nino.
Without water, the locks that lift and lower ships at the start and end of their crossing cannot function.
Ilya Espino de Marotta, who took over as head of the Panama Canal Authority on Monday, told AFP that further measures may be implemented if the drought does not subside.
"We do not rule out the possibility that in February or March we may have to lower the limit -- probably not to 24 slots per day, but it could be reduced to 29 or something similar," she said.
Source: Emirates News Agency