The Panama Canal announced on Monday (13.01.2010) the application of surcharges for the use of fresh water for the transit of ships as part of an action plan to address the shortage of water caused by the consequences of the climate crisis, and to finance future plans to ensure its full availability.
The administrator of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), Ricaurte Vásquez, said that The surcharges for the use of fresh water will be a fixed amount of 10.000 dollars and a variable amount of between 1% and 10% of the toll., depending on the level of Gatun Lake, the main lake that feeds the road, and will be applied starting next February 15.
«Perhaps we have underestimated the price we had to charge for transiting the Panama Canal, especially given the situation of a different rainfall regime."and less linked to the climate crisis," Vásquez said at a press conference.
The Panama Canal, through which 6% of world trade passes, is fed by the artificial lakes Gatún (1913) and Alhajuela (1935), but this water also supplies the metropolitan area of Panama City, which means the supply of nearly one and a half million people.
Vásquez recalled that the Canal's watershed received 2019% less rainfall than the historical average in 20, and the low levels of Gatún Lake raise fears that it will not reach adequate margins to face the dry season that began this month.
«We have no plans to suspend this charge (for the use of fresh water) once the lake (Gatún) is normalized, and the reason for this is because the investments we are going to have to make to ensure the water supply of the route are significant., the administrator said.
Among other options for obtaining new water sources, there has been talk of desalinating water from the Atlantic Ocean and taking resources from the dam that supplies the Lake Bayano hydroelectric plant, a large reservoir located east of Panama City.
Another measure announced on Monday is a modification to the reservation system for ship transits, which will be reduced from 32 to 27 per day. to make water use more efficient and transit service more reliable, and a charge of $1.500 to $5.000 per itinerary registration.
The ACP administrator acknowledged that these measures are expected to result in a reduction in lockage, which will help save water, but ruled out that this will mean lower contributions to the Panamanian treasury due to surpluses.
"We have not made this calculation with the aim of having greater profitability. In reality, what we hope is that what we have projected will be maintained (…) that the decrease in lockage will be compensated by the surcharge in such a way that we maintain the same level of income.""estimated in the 2020 budget," he said.
The Panama Canal contributes to the State each year the surpluses from its operations. For the fiscal year 2020, it expects to generate revenues of 3.426,1 million dollars and to contribute 1.824,1 million dollars to the Panamanian treasury.
In 2019, contributions to the State reached 1.786,41 million dollars, another record figure marked after the expansion of the road began operations in June 2016 after almost a decade of work and an investment of at least 5.600 million dollars.
The force of the droughts of recent years, which are associated with the climate crisis, forced in 2019 to "reduce the tonnage load" of ships on "three occasions" because the oceanic route did not have the optimal level of water, said in an interview with Efe at the end of last December the Minister of Canal Affairs, Aristides Royo.
Administrator Vásquez said on Monday that, in addition to the measures announced, the possibility of reducing draft in 2020 is not ruled out.
Source: Reuters
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