{"id":4092,"date":"2023-08-10T12:47:59","date_gmt":"2023-08-10T12:47:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/?p=4092"},"modified":"2023-08-10T13:12:22","modified_gmt":"2023-08-10T13:12:22","slug":"drought-hit-panama-canal-must-adapt-or-die-as-water-levels-drop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/2023\/08\/10\/drought-hit-panama-canal-must-adapt-or-die-as-water-levels-drop\/","title":{"rendered":"Drought-hit Panama Canal must ‘adapt or die’ as water levels drop."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Francisco JARA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The canal relies on rainwater to move cargo ships through a series of locks that function like water elevators, raising the vessels up and over the continent between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Panama Canal, an engineering wonder allowing ships to travel between two oceans, is seeking to adapt to climate change after a biting drought has seen traffic and income dry up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The canal relies on rainwater to move ships through a series of locks that function like water elevators, raising the vessels up and over the continent between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, a water shortage<\/a> due to low rainfall has forced operators to restrict the number of vessels passing through, which is likely to result in a $200 million drop in earnings in 2024 compared to this year, canal administrator Ricaurte Vasquez said Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pacific warming phenomenon known as El Ni\u00f1o, which can cause drought in some nations and flooding in others, is making the situation worse, meteorologists say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The big disadvantage that the Panama Canal has as a maritime route, is that we operate with freshwater, while others use seawater,” said Vasquez during a presentation to the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have to find other solutions to remain a relevant route for international trade. If we don’t adapt, we are going to die.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 50-mile (80-kilometer) byway moves some six percent of all global maritime commerce, and 2023 revenue is forecast at $4.9 billion, said Vasquez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The canal opened in 1914 after a monumental construction project through dense jungles and mountains, with workers suffering tropical diseases<\/a>, intense heat and rain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, more than a million vessels have transited through the canal, saving them a lengthy journey around the tip of South America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The 50-mile (80-kilometer) interocean byway moves some six percent of all global maritime commerce, and 2023 revenue is forecast at $4.9 billion.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

‘Unusually severe’ crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Meteorologist Alcely Lau told AFP that the country has “observed considerable deficits” in rainfall this year, boosted by El Ni\u00f1o.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drought has forced canal administrators to restrict the waterway to ships with a draft of 13,11 meters (43 feet)\u2014which refers to how deep they sit in the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, an average of 40 ships crossed through the canal a day, a number which has now dropped to 32 to save water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For each ship, 200 million liters of freshwater is used to move it through the locks before being dumped into the sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This crisis is unusually severe,” said Vasquez, adding that the “significant restrictions” would be in place until September next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the draft restrictions, some merchant ships<\/a> are forced to unload their containers and send the lighter vessel through the canal, while the goods traverse Panama by rail before being reloaded for shipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the drought and resulting restrictions continue, Vasquez fears shipping companies will “opt for other routes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"In
In 2022, an average of 40 ships crossed through the canal a day, a number which has now dropped to 32 to save water.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This includes the Strait of Magellan\u2014a natural passage at the tip of South America between the mainland and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We think that if we find a solution relatively soon, not necessarily an immediate solution but one customers know is on the way, it should alleviate long-term concern,” said Vasquez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saltier water going to cities.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The lack of rain has also increased the salinity of the lakes and rivers that make up the canal<\/a>‘s watershed\u2014which also provides water to three cities, including the capital Panama City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Every time we open the gate that leads to the sea, seawater is mixed with fresh water<\/a>,” said Vasquez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have to keep that level of salt water within a certain range, because the water treatment plants<\/a> do not have desalination capacity,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dwindling freshwater cannot be replaced with sea water\u2014as used by the Suez Canal which connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea\u2014as this would require massive excavations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Suez was much flatter and it was sand. In our case it is rock and there is a mountain range<\/a> which is not very high, but it is there and it is a challenge,” said Vasquez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 2023 AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“We have to find other solutions to remain a relevant route for international trade. If we don’t adapt, we are going to die.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[904,905],"class_list":["post-4092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","tag-draught","tag-panama-canal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4092"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4094,"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4092\/revisions\/4094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}