The Panama Canal handled a record volume in the fiscal year that ended on September 30. Tonnage reached 521 million Panama Canal Universal Measurement System tons, an increase of 6.5 percent from 489.2 million tons the previous fiscal year, the Panama Canal Authority said, surpassing the previous record of 518 million tons set in 2022. The waterway handled 13,951 transits in fiscal 2026, up 4.1 percent from 13,404 in fiscal 2025.
Growth was driven by energy shipping segments and strong containership performance, the authority said, and vessels transiting the Neopanamax locks accounted for 52.2 percent of total tonnage, with tonnage through those locks rising 8.2 percent year over year. That mix matters for commodities: the largest locks carry the LNG, LPG and container traffic that has rerouted as the Red Sea and Hormuz routes became riskier.
The canal maintained a maximum authorised draft of 50 feet throughout the dry season, despite the effects of El Nino on its watershed, and total revenue reached 6.6 billion balboas, an increase of 16.6 percent over the previous fiscal year. The authority said the figures are unaudited and will support investment in strategic projects, including the Rio Indio Lake Project under its Vision 2025 to 2035 programme, which is aimed at long-term water availability.
The authority has also reinstated its Last-Minute Reservation service at the Panamax locks, for ships arriving without bookings, following water conservation measures and near-average rainfall in the watershed. The service does not guarantee a transit date, and the authority has warned that unreserved ships can face long waits, so the record year should not be read as spare capacity sitting idle.