Panama Canal raises daily transit capacity to 34 vessels

The Panama Canal Authority is raising daily transit capacity to 34 vessels and restoring the maximum Neopanamax draft to 50 feet, citing improved lake levels and water-saving measures at the locks.

Why it matters: Capacity at the canal is a direct constraint on energy and container flows between the Atlantic and Pacific; the increase reverses part of the drought-era cuts that took daily transits as low as 22 vessels in 2023 and 2024.

Data as of gCaptain report of November 11, 2026, read in full in this run, on the Panama Canal Authority advisory to shipping of November 9, 2026; single-sourced to that report in this run. Developing item.

The Panama Canal Authority is increasing daily transit capacity to 34 vessels and restoring the maximum allowable draft at the Neopanamax locks to 50 feet (15.24 metres), effective immediately, gCaptain reported. The change adds one daily booking slot for Super vessels at the Panamax locks, taking that category from 18 to 19 slots and total reservation capacity from 33 to 34, split between 24 slots at the Panamax locks and 10 at the Neopanamax locks.

The authority cited improving lake levels, favourable hydrological forecasts and the water-saving measures in place at the locks. The added Panamax slot is phased in: through the auction system for transit dates November 12 to 17, through the Special Competition booking period for November 18 to 23, and through the regular Second Competition Period from November 24. Capacity remains conditional on rainfall and Gatun Lake levels, which forced daily transits down to 22 at the worst of the 2023 to 2024 drought.

Panama Canal raises daily transit capacity to 34 vessels

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