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13 November 2015
Panama Canal Delays
Dear Valued Customer,
Please be informed that the Panama Canal is currently experiencing high vessel backlog and long transit time waits due to several reasons:
Increased arrivals of large and deep draft vessels. These require more time to transit the locks, reducing the total number of vessels scheduled to transit.
Water conservation measures. Gatun Lake, the Canal’s water source, has been experiencing low water levels due to extended El Niño effects.
Fog at the canal. This is not uncommon, however, still has a negative impact in transit operations.
The Panama Canal Authority has postponed non-critical maintenance works at the locks, changed transit booking conditions and assigned additional crews for tugs and locomotives as measures to aid and improve waiting time. Even so, waiting time for many vessels has not been reduced to acceptable levels.
As a precautionary step, all APL vessels are pre-booked for transit through the end of March 2016. However, our vessel schedules could still be affected by delays in the Panama Canal.
For assistance, please contact your local APL representative. We thank you for your business and continued support.
Sincerely,
APL Co. Pte Ltd
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