The Panama Canal is one of the world’s most vital shipping routes. About 14,000 vessels transit the waterway annually including about 40% of all U.S. container traffic. But recent droughts have plagued the artery. A drought in 2023 and 2024 forced the canal’s operator, the Panama Canal Authority, to enact weight restrictions and limit vessel transits to 18 ships per day. About 36 ships cross the canal daily. The drought was Panama’s worst in over 70 years. But how does a 50-mile long waterway connected by two oceans run low on water? To better understand the issue CNBC’s Lori Ann LaRocco boarded a tugboat and a motorized canoe to get a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges the canal faces.
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
2:37 Panama Canal
6:02 Gatun Lake
10:18 Alternatives
Produced and Shot by: Shawn Baldwin
Reporter: Lori Ann LaRocco
Edited by: Erin Black
Additional Camera: Andrew Evers
Animation: Jason Reginato
Senior Director of Video: Jeniece Pettitt
Translation: Silvana Henao, Antonio Jose Vielma
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The $1.6 Billion Plan To Fix The Panama Canal’s Drought Problem
Author: CNBC
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News post in September 13, 2025, 6:04 pm.
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