AmericasOperations

Locks maintenance will see Panama Canal capacity dip by half in coming week

The Panama Canal’s capacity could drop by half in the coming week as locks are selectively taken out of service for the performance of scheduled maintenance work, according to GAC Wilford & McKay which provides shipping services to users of the Canal.

Pedro Miguel locks’ west lanes will undergo gate repairs and maintenance on the conductor slots and valves starting on Tuesday and lasting until the end of September.

East lanes of the Miraflores and Gatun locks will also face stoppages, but only intermittent ones, for repairs on the conductor slots and other maintenance work. The controversial cracks in the new third locks, key elements of the Canal’s current expansion programme, are not mentioned as factors in these decisions by GAC.

Vessels could be delayed by up to a week and GAC estimates a 50% fall in capacity for these eight days.

Donal Scully

With 28 years experience writing and editing for newspapers in the UK and Hong Kong, Donal is now based in California from where he covers the Americas for Splash as well as ensuring the site is loaded through the Western Hemisphere timezone.
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