Panama Canal sets cargo record

PANAMA CITY, Panama (AFP) — The Panama Canal has set a record for cargo transits, buoyed by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the Middle East war, the waterway’s operator told Agence France-Presse on Tuesday.

The canal — which handles an estimated five percent of global maritime trade — saw 521 million tons of cargo pass through on nearly 14,000 ships in the last fiscal year, which ran from October 2025 to the end of September, authorities said.

Canal administrator Ilya Espino de Marotta said there was a “boom” in ship traffic over the course of the year after the throttling of the Hormuz Strait, through which around 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas normally passes.

The canal increased the number of daily transits from 36 to 41 for a period of time to adjust for the uptick.

But earlier this month, it had to cut daily transits down to 32 because of drought conditions from a shortage of rainfall.

The waterway operates with fresh water stored in two artificial lakes, which have been depleted as Panama endures this year’s exceptionally strong El Niño weather phenomenon.

The warming phase of a natural climate cycle, El Niño events temporarily elevate global temperatures, altering cloud and wind patterns and raising the risk of damaging weather.