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# The Panama Canal Has Given Back One Slot of the Two It Took. The Draft Is Back to Its July Level.
- URL: https://www.lacaribenanews.com/panama-canal-draft-49-feet-slots-33-reversal-caricom-2026/
- Published: 2026-09-30T14:50:20.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-04T05:16:33.000Z
- Description: The Panama Canal Authority raised the Neopanamax draft to 49.0 feet with immediate effect on 28 September and will run 33 daily slots from 15 October, up from 32. The single extra slot is at the Neopanamax locks. The Authority says the watershed deficit continues.
- Author: Theon Alleyne
- Tags: Shipping, CARICOM, Analysis, Wire

**Quick summary:** The Panama Canal Authority raised the Neopanamax draft to 14.94 metres, 49.0 feet, with immediate effect on 28 September, and will run 10 Neopanamax transits for 33 daily slots from 15 October. Daily slots had been cut to 32 on 15 September. The Authority says the watershed deficit continues.

By LCN Business Desk

After five cuts in three months, the Panama Canal has begun to loosen.

The Panama Canal Authority announced on 28 September, through an Advisory to Shipping, that it will raise the number of daily transits at the Neopanamax locks to 10, "for a total of 33 daily slots within Neopanamax and Panamax locks beginning October 15, 2026, based on the present and projected level of Gatun Lake". In the same advisory it raised the maximum authorised draft for vessels transiting the Neopanamax locks to 14.94 m, 49.0 feet, "effective immediately and until further notice".

The Authority attributed the change to "the positive effect of the close to average precipitation on the Canal watershed and the effective water saving measures implemented in the Locks", [in its published announcement](https://pancanal.com/en/panama-canal-announces-increase-in-draft-and-daily-transit/?ref=lacaribenanews.com).

The two measures carry different dates. The draft applies now. The tenth slot does not arrive until 15 October.

## How much capacity is actually coming back?

One slot, and it is not in the lane most Caribbean cargo uses.

Advisory to Shipping No. A-29-2026, issued on 20 August and signed by Vice President for Operations Boris Moreno Vásquez, set daily slots at nine for the Neopanamax locks and 25 for the Panamax locks from booking dates beginning 4 September, a total of 34\. From booking dates beginning 15 September, Panamax slots fell to 23, taking the total to 32\. This newspaper reported that decision and the regional exposure attached to it in [The Panama Canal Cut Its Daily Booking Slots to 32](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/panama-canal-slot-cuts-caricom-import-exposure-2026/).

The Authority's new advisory names two figures: 10 Neopanamax transits, and 33 slots in total. It does not state a Panamax number. Subtracting the one from the other leaves 23 at the Panamax locks, which is where Panamax slots already stood.

| Locks      | From 15 September | From 15 October | Change |
| ---------- | ----------------- | --------------- | ------ |
| Neopanamax | 9                 | 10              | Up one |
| Panamax    | 23                | 23 (derived)    | None   |
| Total      | 32                | 33              | Up one |

Slot figures from Advisory A-29-2026 and the advisory of 28 September. The Panamax figure for 15 October is arithmetic on the Authority's own two numbers, not a figure the Authority published.

So of the two daily slots withdrawn between 4 and 15 September, one returns. It returns at the Neopanamax locks, the larger chamber built for the biggest vessels, while the Panamax locks stay where the August advisory left them.

## Where does 49 feet sit against this year?

Exactly where the Canal was on 24 July.

The Authority ordered five successive reductions to the loading limit, which this newspaper charted in [Panama Has Cut the Canal's Loading Limit Four Times in Nine Weeks](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/panama-canal-draft-cuts-el-nino-caribbean-shipping-2026/): 49.5, 49.0, 48.5, 48.0 and 47.5 feet, effective 3 July, 24 July, 15 August, 26 August and 3 September 2026, against a design maximum of 15.24 m, 50.0 feet.

The fifth was ordered and never delivered. The 47.5 foot limit was announced on 5 August for 3 September, then moved to 1 October, and on 4 September the Authority [postponed it and held the limit at 48.0 feet](https://pancanal.com/en/panama-canal-postpones-neopanamax-draft-adjustment/?ref=lacaribenanews.com), citing its "latest review of Gatun Lake levels and weather projections" and the aim of giving customers "greater continuity for voyage planning and vessel deployment".

The deepest cut the Panama Canal ordered this year never came into force, and the limit has now risen past the two that did.

At 49.0 feet the Canal has unwound the third, fourth and fifth reductions. The first two stand. Ships are still loading one foot shallower than the design maximum and half a foot shallower than on 3 July.

## Does the Authority say the shortage is over?

It says the opposite, in the same advisory.

"While the water deficit continues in the Canal watershed, the Transit Reservation (Booking) System remains the only way to guarantee a transit date. Vessels without a reservation may therefore face indefinite delays."

That sentence sits directly beneath the increase. The Authority also committed to "closely monitoring water conditions and rainfall levels and to communicating any further adjustments in a timely manner, as circumstances allow".

The hydrology behind the August cuts was severe. A-29-2026 recorded cumulative rainfall across the canal watershed for the hydrological year from May through August running 34 per cent below the historical average, with watershed inflows 44 per cent below.

The forecast has not improved. The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration put the odds of a record El Niño at 69 per cent, reported in [NOAA Puts a 69% Chance on a Record El Niño](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/noaa-puts-a-69-chance-on-a-record-el-nino-the-last-comparable-one-cut-guyanas-rice-crop-by-37/), and the same pattern is now shaping planting decisions in Brazil, set out in [Brazil Is Planting Into the Strongest El Nino in Years](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/el-nino-2026-27-brazil-harvest-risk-guyana-rice-caribbean-food-2026/).

## What does a capacity recovery do to what the region pays?

On the last occasion, nothing that helped the importer.

Between the 2023 and 2024 financial years, the last shortage, cargo carried through the canal fell 26 per cent while tolls collected rose 1 per cent. The Authority protected its revenue through price while volume fell. A booking slot is also still an auctioned asset: one ship paid US$5.3 million for a single crossing, reported in [A Ship Paid US$5.3 Million to Cross the Panama Canal](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/panama-canal-slot-auction-record-allocation-2026/).

The Caribbean Private Sector Organisation (CPSO), an associate institution of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), estimated that between US$8 billion and US$10 billion of the region's annual imports are exposed to the restrictions, about a quarter to a third of the non-fuel import bill. That estimate was made against the 32 slot position. One slot has since been restored, at the Neopanamax locks.

The region has no direct claim on the capacity either way. The Panama Canal Authority lists six main trade routes, and no Caribbean route is among them.

### What the title card shows

Every data point on the article's title card, in text.

The panel, "The Panama Canal's year, in its own advisories":

- **49.0 feet.** The maximum authorised draft at the Neopanamax locks, 14.94 m, effective immediately from 28 September 2026\. Source: Panama Canal Authority advisory of 28 September 2026.
- **50.0 feet.** The design maximum, 15.24 m, which the Canal has not returned to. Source: Panama Canal Authority.
- **47.5 feet.** The deepest limit ordered in 2026, which never came into force. Source: Panama Canal Authority, announced 5 August 2026 and postponed 4 September 2026.
- **33 daily slots.** The total from 15 October 2026, of which 10 are at the Neopanamax locks. Source: Panama Canal Authority advisory of 28 September 2026.
- **32 daily slots.** The total from booking dates beginning 15 September 2026\. Source: Advisory to Shipping No. A-29-2026.
- **34 per cent below.** Cumulative watershed rainfall for the hydrological year May through August, against the historical average. Source: Advisory A-29-2026.

The footer strip:

- **Up one.** The net change in daily slots, all of it at the Neopanamax locks.
- **24 July.** The date the draft was last at 49.0 feet.
- **US$8 billion.** The lower bound of the CPSO's estimate of CARICOM annual imports exposed to the restrictions.
- **Minus 26 per cent.** The change in cargo carried between the 2023 and 2024 financial years, the last shortage, while tolls collected rose 1 per cent.

## What has to hold for the recovery to last?

Rain in the watershed through the dry season, on the Authority's own account.

The Canal has tied both measures to the level of Gatun Lake and to precipitation, and has reserved the right to adjust again. It has moved its loading limit seven times since 3 July, counting the 28 September increase and the reduction it cancelled. Five of those moves were downward.

For a Caribbean importer the practical position is narrow. Ships crossing from 15 October may load a foot deeper than they could in early September, one more of them may book each day, and the lane that gained the slot is the one built for the largest vessels. The booking system still governs who crosses and when, the auction still sets what a place is worth on a tight day, and the Authority still describes the watershed as in deficit.

## Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly did the Panama Canal announce on 28 September 2026?

Two things with different effective dates. The maximum authorised draft for vessels transiting the Neopanamax locks rose to 14.94 metres, 49.0 feet, effective immediately and until further notice. Separately, daily transits at the Neopanamax locks will rise to 10, for a total of 33 daily slots across both sets of locks, beginning 15 October 2026.

How many slots did the Canal take away, and how many has it given back?

Advisory A-29-2026 set the total at 34 from booking dates beginning 4 September and 32 from 15 September, a reduction of two. The new advisory takes the total to 33 from 15 October, so one of the two returns. The Authority stated 10 Neopanamax transits and 33 in total, which leaves 23 at the Panamax locks, unchanged.

Is the Panama Canal's water shortage over?

The Authority does not say so. In the same advisory it stated that "the water deficit continues in the Canal watershed" and that the booking system remains the only way to guarantee a transit date, with vessels lacking a reservation facing indefinite delays.

Does more canal capacity mean cheaper freight for the Caribbean?

It did not last time. Between the 2023 and 2024 financial years, cargo carried fell 26 per cent while tolls collected rose 1 per cent. Booking slots are also auctioned, and a single crossing has sold for US$5.3 million. The CPSO has estimated US$8 billion to US$10 billion of CARICOM's annual imports are exposed to the restrictions.

How deep can ships load compared with normal?

The design maximum at the Neopanamax locks is 15.24 metres, 50.0 feet. At 49.0 feet ships are loading one foot shallower than that, and half a foot shallower than the 49.5 foot limit that applied from 3 July 2026.