The Panama Canal Authority is set to implement further reductions in daily vessel transits as a severe El Niño-driven drought severely impacts water levels in its feeding lakes. Handling roughly 5% of global maritime trade and 40% of US container traffic, the vital 82 km shipping lane will see daily transits drop from 36 in August to 29.5 starting in October, following an earlier cut to 32 in September. The freshwater shortage in Lake Gatun, essential for operating the lock system, has already created massive bottlenecks, forcing some shipowners to pay up to $4 million in daily auctions to skip days-long queues. Compounded by global geopolitical tensions and record-breaking seasonal temperatures across the globe, the restrictions are driving up operational costs and pushing maritime companies to seek alternative trade routes ahead of El Niño’s expected peak.