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Two major shipping companies have announced that they will charge a canal surcharge.
Nov 29,2023
Recently, the problem of persistent drought in the Panama Canal has continued to worsen, ship access restrictions have continued to tighten, and the number of ships passing through the canal on a daily basis has continued to decrease, in addition to the rise in canal tolls, which has greatly increased the operating costs of liner companies.
In view of this, Mediterranean Shipping (MSC) and Dafei Group both announced that they would charge a Panama Canal surcharge to ease operating pressure.
Two liner giants to charge canal surcharge
In response to the increasingly severe capacity reduction in the Panama Canal, MSC said that a surcharge of US $297/TEU will be imposed on goods passing through the Panama Canal, which will be implemented from December 15, 2023.
MSC further highlighted that in the second quarter of 2023, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) decided to reduce the draft from 14.94 meters to 13.41 meters.
Despite several water-saving measures in the past few months, the lack of precipitation in the area is affecting the water level in the canal.
The ACP said it would continue to reduce the number of daily vessel passes while keeping vessels at low draught until the end of September 2024.
And these restrictions and the previously raised canal tolls, onThe overall operating costs of MSC have a direct impact.
Previously, an analysis by the shipping media indicated that expected fromStarting in February, the daily traffic will be reduced to 18, and the daily capacity of super-Panamanian ships passing through the canal's locks may be less than 50% of the design capacity.
The specific adjustment method is stepped down: fromFrom November 3, the number of passing ships will be reduced to 25 ships per day; from November 7, it will be reduced to 24 ships; from December 1, it will be reduced to 22 ships.
From January 1, 2024, it will be reduced to 20 ships; from February 1, 2024, it will be reduced to 18 ships.
It is understood that the normal draft of the Panama Canal is15.24 meters, after the draft is lowered, the capacity of large container ships will be reduced by about 40% compared with normal capacity.
In addition, according to official data, the Panama CanalIt operates 7 x 24 hours a year, with 13000 to 14000 ships using the channel each year.
This adjustment of ACP will increase the cost of global cargo transportation and cause long transportation delays.
In addition, Dafei has announced a new standard for the Panama Canal surcharge.
It mentioned in a customer notice that the restrictions on access to the Panama Canal have had a serious impact on operations and will therefore be removed fromEffective January 1, 2024, a new Panama adjustment factor of $150/TEU will apply.
Panama Canal drought intensifies
Currently, the impact of the ongoing drought on the Panama Canal and global trade is escalating.
A recent auction price for a ship's priority right of passage, which isThe "queue fee" has set a record of nearly $4 million, which has greatly increased the cost of transit cargo transportation.
Generally speaking, the rainy season in Panama usually starts every year.It starts in May and ends in November. Affected by the "El Niño" phenomenon, persistent dry weather continues to affect the rainfall of Gatong Lake and the inflow of tributary rivers.
In this regard, the Panamanian government on the one hand to take water-saving measures.
For example, the water in the original Panama ship lock is cross-filled, that is, the water in one lock cabin is reused in the other lock cabin, and the water in the left and right two-way passage lock is conducted mutually. This operation can save the operation of opening and closing the lock once.50% of the water.
A reservoir has also been built next to the new lock, and a new type of lock water recovery system has been established to reuse the water in the new lock through the reservoir, and the water-saving utilization rate can be reached.60%.
In addition, the formation plan for ships to pass through the canal has also begun to be optimized to maximize water savings in each lock and accommodate the largest number of ships.
On the other hand, access restrictions are imposed. Given the rainfall forecast for the next few weeks, the rest of the year will see less rainfall than in previous years38%；
The authorities of the Panama Canal consider it necessary to further reduce the number of daily navigation by ships in order to postpone the reduction of the draft of tropical freshwater to the current44 feet (about 13.41 meters) on demand.
In addition, accordingMarine Traffic data show that the waiting time for ships on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal increased by an average of 30% over last week, from 0.4 days to 0.6 days; the waiting time for ships on the Pacific side increased to 2.2 days.
The head of Marine Traffic North America said that while the Panama Canal authorities compressed the passage schedule, an average of 26 merchant ships arrived on the Pacific side of the canal and an average of 8 merchant ships arrived on the Atlantic side of the canal. The time for ships to be navigated increased and the possibility of delays in the delivery of cargo on board increased.
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