The number of vessels that passed through the Panama Canal rose to an average of 34 per day for a total of 1,021 transits last month, from an average of 33.7 per day in March, according to a bulletin published by the waterway's authority.
In the first four months of 2025, transits remained below the maximum of 36 ships allowed to pass per day, according to the data, despite a decline in the fees the canal charges for passage slots.
A severe drought between late 2023 and early 2024 forced the waterway, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, to impose restrictions that prompted higher transit feesand long line-ups of vessels waiting to enter the canal. The restrictions were lifted last year.
The U.S. and Panama have in recent months discussed fees and passage priority for U.S.-flagged vessels, after U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the fees charged by the world's second-largest interoceanic waterway as too high, and threatened to take it over.
The canal's authority also is planning projects to expand the waterway's trans-shipment and storage capacity, including a liquefied petroleum gas pipeline for vessels to discharge at one end of the canal, while other tankers can pick up the cargo at the other end. The authority will begin receiving bids for the project this year.
(Reuters)
