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Drought May Drive Large Oil Tankers Away From Panama Canal

OIL

Dry weather and drought conditions are likely to force large oil tankers to stop using the Panama Canal according to a note from Poten & Partners.

  • The Panama Canal Authority last week announced increasingly drastic cuts the number of ships that can pass the canal. Based on current rainfall projections, the authority is cutting daily slows to the following: 25 from Nov 3-6, 24 from Nov 7-30, 22 from Dec 1-31, 20 from Jan 1-31 and from 1 February, until further notice, the number of daily slots will be reduced to 18.
  • This will be especially difficult for tramp ships – vessel that don’t tend to have fixed scheduled but rely on when cargoes are being loaded, the note said. The Panama Canal is a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and avoiding it means sailing around Africa or the bottom of the Americas instead.
  • “Large oil tankers will not feature in this trade anymore,” Poten said.

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