The Panama Canal announced Saturday it will reduce the maximum number of ships travelling the waterway to 31 per day, from 32 in August, due to a drought that has reduced the supply of fresh water needed to operate the locks.
That compares to daily averages of 36 to 38 ships per day under normal operation.
Nine ships per day will be allowed to use the new, bigger NeoPanamax locks and 22 per day will be handled through the older Panamax locks.
No, they don’t have pumps or the energy needed to do that all the way to 100%. They do send water from a higher lock to a lower lock until they are both at 50%, but they have to fill the remaining portion from the lake system on top.