A new solution proposed for drought-stricken Panama Canal goes around it

Date:
Thu, 11 Apr 2024 17:11:00 +0000

Description:
Several freighters, assisted by tugboats, are entering the Panama Canal at Gatun Locks on the Atlantic side. Deposit Photos Some trade routes will need to detour over land. The post A new solution proposed for drought-stricken Panama Canal goes around it appeared first on Popular Science .

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Several freighters, assisted by tugboats, are entering the Panama Canal at Gatun Locks on the Atlantic side. Deposit Photos

As droughts continue to deplete the Panama Canals water levels, the maritime trading hubs operators are planning a workaround. On Wednesday, Panama officials announced a new Multimodal Dry Canal project that will begin transporting international cargo across a special customs jurisdiction near the 110-year-old waterway.

The Panama Canal, which connects Atlantic and Pacific trading routes, has
been in dire straits for some time. To function, ocean vessels pass through a series of above-sea-level locks filled with freshwater provided by nearby
Lake Gatn and Lake Alajuela. Older Panamax locks require about 50 million gallons of freshwater per ship, while a small number of Neo-Panamax locks built in 2016 only require around 30 million gallons.

[Related: When climate change throws the Pacific off balance, the worlds weather follows .]

But the canals upgrades cant keep up with climate changes cascading effects. Lake Gatn and Lake Alajuela are replenished with rainwater, and a lingering drought compounded by El Nio has resulted in the second-driest year in the Panama Canals existence . To compensate, the daily average number of ships allowed to pass through the lock system has been reduced from 38 to 27, while each vessel is also now required to carry less cargo. Operators hope to soon raise that average to pre-drought levels, but likely at a cost to local
marine ecosystem health and local drinking water supplies. Meanwhile, as the AFP reports, marine traffic jams routinely see over 100 ships waiting to pass through the 50-mile passage.

The new Multimodal Dry Canal project announced this week will attempt to further alleviate a global trade problem that particularly affects the Panama Canals most frequent usersthe US, China, Japan, and South Korea.

Ship crews shouldnt need to wait for a yearslong engineering process before seeing some relief to the passages congestion. During a presentation of project plans this week, Panamanian representatives said no additional investment or construction is needed. Instead, the dry thoroughfare will function as a complement to the canal by employing existing roads, railways, port facilities, airports and duty-free zones, according to the AFP on Wednesday.

Speaking with the BBC earlier this month (before the dry canals reveal), a shipping company general manager said such landbased detour routes could be costlyexpenses that are usually passed onto the consumer.

The post A new solution proposed for drought-stricken Panama Canal goes
around it appeared first on Popular Science . Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.



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Link to news story:
https://www.popsci.com/environment/panama-canal-drought/


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