Panama on Wednesday unveiled plans for a “dry canal” to carry cargo between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans due to low water levels in its century-old sea canal.
The Panama Canal normally handles about 6% of the world’s maritime trade, but drought caused by climate change and the El Niño phenomenon has forced authorities to limit the number of ships passing through it.
The Multimodal Dry Canal project will use existing roads, railways, port facilities, airports and duty-free zones in a new “special customs jurisdiction,” said Rodolfo Samuda, director of logistics at the presidency ministry.
It will not require any investment thanks to the use of existing infrastructure, he said during the presentation of the project.
A decree to simplify procedures for land transport of cargo across the isthmus has already been announced by President Laurentino Cortizo.
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The project aims to “complement the Panama Canal” and solve the problems faced by its users, said Guillermo Salazar, director of the country’s state development planning institute.
Now 27 ships sail through the Panama Canal each day, compared to 39 previously.
Unlike the Suez Canal, it uses fresh water supplied by previously abundant tropical rains stored in two man-made lakes, which are also a critical source of drinking water.
The canal — used primarily by clients from the United States, China, Japan and South Korea — has a system of locks to raise and lower ships.
For every boat that passes through it, 200 million liters of fresh water is released into the sea.
Capacity restrictions have caused maritime traffic congestion on some days of more than 100 ships waiting to enter the 50-mile (80 km) waterway, which opened in 1914.
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To avoid delay, some ships paid up to four million dollars for a slot in an auction, in addition to the usual tolls.
The problems are seen as a potential economic opportunity by some of Panama’s neighbors.
In December, Mexico unveiled a transoceanic railway billed as an alternative to the canal.
Honduras unveiled an ambitious project for a trans-Pacific freight railway in February, although it currently lacks the funding to build it.
Source: AFP