Panama Canal lifts daily slots to 34 and restores a 50 ft neopanamax draft
A wet October has refilled Gatun Lake, three months after drought fears cut bookings to 32 ships a day
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has raised daily transit capacity to 34 vessels and lifted the maximum draft at the neopanamax locks to 50 ft (15.24 m), citing improved lake levels, favourable hydrological forecasts and the effect of water-saving measures at the locks. The changes were set out in an advisory to shipping dated 9 November; the new draft applies immediately and until further notice.
The extra slot goes to super-category ships at the original panamax locks, lifting their daily allocation from 18 to 19. Total daily reservation capacity rises from 33 to 34, made up of 24 slots at the panamax locks at Balboa and Cristóbal ends of the waterway and 10 at the larger neopanamax locks. The draft increase follows an October adjustment to 49 ft.
The additional panamax slot is being phased in. For transit dates from 12 to 17 November it is sold through the canal's auction system, from 18 to 23 November through the Special Competition booking period, and from 24 November through the regular Second Competition Period.
Why has the outlook changed?
Gatun Lake averaged 85.80 ft (26.15 m) in October, just 0.15 ft below its historical average and more than 6 ft higher than in the drought-hit October of 2023, data compiled by Ursa Shipbrokers show. Rainfall across the watershed in the first 29 days of October was 8.4% above the 30-year average.
The picture was very different in August, when weak rainfall and a strengthening El Niño forced the authority to cut daily booking capacity to 32 vessels and tighten draft limits. Competition for guaranteed passages pushed auction prices to records, including a $5.3m payment by an LPG carrier for a September transit. In September the canal postponed a planned cut in the neopanamax draft to 47.5 ft and held it at 48 ft. At the worst of the 2023 to 2024 drought, capacity fell to 22 transits a day.
Demand has been strong this year as the Middle East conflict pushed more traffic, particularly energy carriers, towards Panama. The ACP said unbooked ships could still face significant delays, that its Transit Reservation System remains the only way to guarantee a transit date, and that further adjustments are possible as rainfall and lake levels change.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 12 November 2026.
