The agency that operates and manages the Panama Canal said Friday it has suspended a planned draft restriction that was scheduled to go into effect early next month, citing a sufficient amount of rainfall received in the canal's watershed.
But the Panama Canal Authority, or ACP, did not rule out a new restrictive measure if new drought conditions cause water levels in the Gatun and Alajuela lakes to fall once again.
If that occurs, that new measure will be announced with at least four weeks' notice, the agency said.
The ACP said on Aug. 7 that it would lower the maximum allowable draft of ships passing through the inter-oceanic waterway starting Sept. 8, adding that the measure would affect 18.5 percent of ships but ruling out the possibility that it would have a significant impact on "the efficiency and capacity" of the canal's operations.
A ship's draft is the depth of a vessel's keel below the water line.
The maximum allowable draft was to have been set at 11.89 meters (39 feet), down from the current level of 12.04 meters (39.5 feet), which would have forced ships to reduce their cargo.
But in a press release Friday, the ACP said the "amount of rainfall received in the Canal Watershed during the last few days - in addition to the water conservation measures implemented and the works done to deepen the navigational channel -" made it possible to suspend the announced restriction.
A total of 202,000 cubic meters (53 million gallons) of fresh water are required to transport one ship through the canal's multi-tiered lock system.
The Panama Canal adopted a similar cargo-restricting measure in 1998 due to a severe drought that year.
Panama's rainy season typically runs from April to November, but the amount of precipitation has been lower than normal this year because of the El Niño weather phenomenon.
The 80-kilometer (50-mile) inter-oceanic waterway, which was under U.S. control from 1904 until Dec. 31, 1999, currently handles roughly 6 percent of global trade.
In 2007, administrators launched a $5.25 billion canal expansion project, including construction of a third set of locks that will enable the waterway to accommodate "post-Panamax" ships.
Those modern ships - used by the energy, and particularly the liquefied natural gas, industry - hold up to 12,000 20-foot-long containers and are three times bigger than what the canal can currently handle.
With the new set of locks, due to begin operating in April 2016, the canal will be able to handle up to 600 million tons of cargo annually, double its current capacity. EFE
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