PANAMA CANAL — A container ship paid approximately $4 million to jump the queue of vessels waiting to pass through the Panama Canal. The buyer of the transit slot was the Seaspan Benefactor, a 10,100 TEU vessel built in 2016.

The $4 million payment was more than double the average bid placed during the previous seven days. Prices to travel in the Panama Canal’s busiest shipping lanes have hit record highs as ships wait about 10 days for their turn to pass through the waterway. The current backlog of ships waiting to transit the canal is the largest since May.

The Panama Canal Authority runs daily auctions that allow ship owners to place bids to skip the queue. Starting bids for these auctions open at about $15,000 for smaller cargo vessels and $55,000 for the largest ships. The Panama Canal Authority stated that the recent outcome of an auction awarded to an LPG vessel reflects temporary market shifts and is not the result of a rate set by the authority.

According to gCaptain, the Panama Canal Authority mentioned a previous instance in November 2023 where a Neopanamax transit vessel was involved in an auction with bids exceeding $1 million to $4 million. Fighting in the Middle East has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab waterway, contributing to global shipping disruptions.

The Panama Canal Authority cut the maximum authorised draft in July for ships transiting its Neopanamax locks. The decision was based on water levels and projected conditions for Gatun Lake. The authority said it would impose limits in late August and early September on how low vessels can travel through the water, known as a ship’s draft.

The Panama Canal Authority recorded a 5% increase in the number of transits between October and June. The average number of transits per day during that period was 35. A higher tonnage was carried through the canal between October and June, driven by container ships and liquefied petroleum gas carriers.