パナマ運河、水不足で通航制限１年延長も

【パナマ市ＡＦＰ＝時事】大西洋と太平洋を結ぶパナマ運河で水不足のため航行制限が導入されているが、運河当局はこのほど、十分な降雨が望めない場合には制限を１年間継続する方針を固めた。（写真は資料写真）
　船舶が高低差のある運河を通航するには、閘門（こうもん）に水を注入して水位を調整する必要があるが、降雨量が不足しているため十分な水を確保できていない。
　パナマ運河庁のイリヤ・エスピノ副長官は２４日、ＡＦＰに対し、向こう３か月間に十分な雨が降らなければ、通航制限を「１年継続することを検討している」と述べた。利用者はその間に対応策を検討できるだろうとしている。
　パナマ運河の通航には、１隻当たり２億リットルの水が必要とされる。しかし、エルニーニョ現象の影響もあり、パナマは現在、深刻な干ばつに見舞われており、当局は通航制限を導入。そのため滞船が発生しており、１日当たり通航数は昨年は平均４０隻だったが、現在は３２隻にまで減少している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/08/28-16:31）

The drought-hit Panama Canal will maintain restrictions on the passage of ships for one year, a measure that has already led to a marine traffic jam as boats line up to enter the waterway linking two oceans.
The canal is facing a shortage of rainwater needed to transfer ships through locks that function like water elevators, an engineering marvel that moves six percent of the world's maritime commerce up and over the isthmus between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
The canal's sub-administrator Ilya Espino, told AFP that unless heavy rains fall in the next three months, we are looking at a period of one year of restricted access.
That period will give clients a year to plan how to adapt, she said late Thursday.
Each ship moving through the canal requires 200 million liters of freshwater to move it through the locks, provided by two artificial lakes fed by rainfall in a surrounding watershed. The lakes also supply drinking water to half the country of about 4.2 million people.
However, Panama is facing a biting drought, made worse by the El Nino warming phenomenon, which has forced canal administrators to restrict the waterway to ships with a maximum draft (water depth) of 13.11 meters (43 feet).
In 2022, an average of 40 ships crossed through the canal a day, a number which has now dropped to 32 to save water.
- Traffic jam -
The measures have caused a back-up of ships waiting to enter the 50-mile (80-kilometer) waterway, which is mainly used by clients from the United States, China, and Japan.
On Thursday, some 130 boats were waiting, compared to around 90 usually in the queue.
Waiting times, usually between three and five days, have gone up to 19 days at times, although they currently stand at around 11 days.
Earlier this month canal operators said the restrictions were likely to result in a $200 million drop in earnings in 2024 compared to this year.
To pass through the canal, vessels can reserve a slot in advance, or try and buy one via an auction process. For those unable to secure a slot, there is a long wait.
We easily handle a queue of 90 ships waiting, but 130 or 140 ships cause us problems and delays, said Espino.
This week Panama President Laurentino Cortizo was forced to deny an assertion by his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro that the canal was closed.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, also referred this week to the special situation facing the waterway.
We have a restriction in Panama as we have had on other occasions, but it is not true that the Panama Canal is closed, said Cortizo.
- Adapt or die -
The canal opened in 1914 after a monumental construction project through dense jungles and mountains, with thousands of workers perishing from tropical diseases, intense heat and rain.
Since then, more than a million vessels have transited through the canal, saving them a lengthy journey around the tip of South America.
The big disadvantage that the Panama Canal has as a maritime route is that we operate with freshwater, while others use seawater, canal administrator Ricaurte Vasquez told AFP earlier this month.
We have to find other solutions to remain a relevant route for international trade. If we don't adapt, we are going to die.
Due to the draft restrictions, some merchant container ships are forced to unload their cargo and send the lighter vessel through the canal, while the goods traverse Panama by rail before being reloaded.
Right now I see that the situation is manageable, but we do have to show the industry that we are taking definitive steps to address the water problem, former canal administrator Jorge Quijano told AFP on Friday.
That for me is key, because otherwise we will be out of this business.