The Panama Canal is increasing the ship transits this month as water levels return to near-normal. They will be able to handle 35 ships per day versus the 24 maximum daily transits in place since May. Additionally, the Panamanian government has plans to build a dam on the Indio River. The reservoir it will create can feed Gutan Lake in times of severe drought. The project is estimated to take six years to complete.
There is no apparent easy or quick solution to the issues in the Middle East that have all but shut down containerized vessels through the Suez Canal. For the past seven months, mainline ships supporting the Asia – Europe trade as well as the Asia – US East Coast trade are taking the more circuitous route around the Cape of Good Hope. This course adds time and cost to the journey and has tipped the supply/demand ratio to the ocean carriers once again.
The labor negotiations between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the employer group United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) remain at a standstill. With sixty days left in the contract and a union who has stated they will not work without one, it is looking more precarious for US East and Gulf Coast ports.