2023-12-22 11:57:19
In the south of Mexico, a railway linking the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast is being inaugurated this Friday, supposed to compete with the Panama Canal for the transport of goods. However, this year will be a record year for this major axis of world trade. And this despite the traffic disruption linked to the drought. A paradox that deserves explanation.
Two reasons for this record, according to Yann Alix, general delegate of the Sefacil Foundation, specialist in maritime transport. The first is that the passage of ships through three locks which make up the canal has been optimized. There was less water loss. And then, the cost of the passage literally soared. These are the largest ships that were able to transit, but for which the shipping companies paid full price. Result, 2 and a half billion dollars in contributions returned to the Treasury, the highest amount that the Panamanian state has received from the canal.
Global warming causes the canal to dry up
But global warming and the El Niño phenomenon are increasingly affecting this sea route which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and through which no less than 6% of world maritime trade passes. Because unlike other infrastructures of this type, the Panama Canal is supplied with fresh water. Problem: for twenty years, the lack of rain has continued to reduce the water level in the lakes which supply the locks. Faced with drought, the canal administration is considering the construction of a new fresh water reservoir. Not sure that this solution will be sufficient in the long term.
A container ship passes through the Panama Canal, August 2023. © Agustin Herrera / AP
Monster traffic jams
This situation will obviously have no consequences for this small country of just over 4 million inhabitants, as well as for international traffic. We saw it this summer, hundreds of boats on both sides of the canal, queues lasting four days compared to just over a day previously. The shipowners have made their calculations. Many ships have chosen to extend their routes, passing through the Suez Canal or Cape Horn, at the end of South America. This led to additional delays and additional costs in wages and fuel.
Losses and delays pile up
All this affects the exporting countries of the South and the importing countries of the North. Meat from Brazil, wines and copper from Chile, bananas from Ecuador and even liquefied natural gas from the United States… Millions of tons of goods pass through the Panama Canal. If the ships take another route, the finances of the Panamanian state also risk falling drastically. The canal contributes 6% to the country’s gross domestic product.
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