How Panama Canal plans to out-engineer drought and climate change
After a historical drought in which the paralyzed ship passes through the Panama Canal, the Panama Channel Authority is moving with great investments in the new infrastructure to reduce the risk of low water levels that disturb the future droughts and low global trade passages in recent years.
The Panama Canal is connected to fresh water for operations and depends on rainfall.
“We use about two and a half times the amount of water it uses for a New York -sized City Channel operation,” he told CNBC, the manager of the Panama Canal Administration. He said.
In a good rain, this means that more than 50 ships have passed through the locks of the channel, but in recent years, air has not cooperated. The conditions of severe drought conditions hit the region from the end of 2022 to 2024, forcing the channel to reduce the passages and placed ship weight restrictions to save water.
Channel is critical for the US economy and trade. The US is the largest user of the Panama Canal, a total US commodity export and import containers represent about 73% of Panama channel traffic, and 40% of all US container traffic passing through the Panama Canal every year. In total, approximately 270 billion dollars of cargo is discussed annually.
In April, the Channel Administration began a prequalification and selection process to build a land bridge, including what it describes as the flagship natural gas pipeline line to carry natural gas fluids (NGLs) of the channel without trusting itself. A path connecting both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the port terminals built on both shores will be built, and the terminals will be able to contain containers and roll and roll cargo.
The pipeline will allow the liquid oil gas, ethane, butane and the proposal to be transported by the Atlantic to a terminal, another ship and the product to Asia. Channel officials hopes that this will withdraw more LNG through the channel.
Panama Channel Authority reported a 29% decrease in ship transitions in 2024 financially, and the largest hits of LNG and dry collective transitions. LNG transitions decreased by 66 percent, while dry bulk transitions fell by 107 percent.
Although water levels return to regular working conditions, according to S&P Global Data, LNG traffic did not return to the front of the transit activity, and carriers continue to choose the longer route around Africa’s good hope.
Vasquez tells CNBC that this alternative way of moving US energy companies is “swinging to possibilities”. Vasquez, in a transitive way, said the pipeline would be competitive to the progress of the channel and that the reliability would be higher because it is now dependent on water. “This is important because most of these products are critical to reliability and timely delivery,” he said.
“We decided to make a black bridge to complete the water road.” He said. Stating that the project was announced in Tokyo, the biggest buyer of these energy products, he said, “We are aware that these are high -valuable products in Asia,” he said.
A container ship browses the Miraflores locks of the Panama Channel near Panama City, Panama, Panama City, Panama. Photographer: Walter Hurtado/Bloomberg through Getty Images
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Another approved project is the construction of the Rio Indo Dam. The dam and tunnel project would add complementary water for Gatun Lake, which feeds fresh water to the Panama Canal. Old Panamax locks lose about 50-52 million gallons per vascular passage. The newer, Neo-Panamax locks reclaim approximately 60% of water per passage.
The construction of the dam is expected to begin in 2027 and will not be completed by 2032 and the cost is estimated to be $ 1.6 billion. IAt this cost, 400 million dollars are allocated to compensate and reconstruct approximately 2,500 inhabitants from various communities that will be flooded to create the villas.
CNBC was the first television team to one of the villages to be affected by the project, and the villagers who spoke with CNBC said they didn’t want to leave.
Both projects will not be completed until the next El Niño air phenomenon is expected, Vasquez says that some elements of the land bridge will be completed in 2027, but the pipeline is not expected to be completed until 2030-2031.
Watch the above video to learn more about the future of the Panama Canal’s violent drought and climate effects and how the US economy plans the consequences of global trade and local communities.
