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Panama City: A South Korean tanker paid a record $5.3 million to skip the line at the Panama Canal ahead of incoming El Niño drought restrictions.
The LPG vessel G. Spirit, owned by SK Gas, secured passage for September 1 through a last-minute auction to avoid prolonged delays. Ships without advance bookings face an average five-day wait to transit the waterway.
The record bid comes just days before the Panama Canal Authority reduces daily ship transits from 36 down to 34 due to dwindling water levels. Daily passage will be restricted further to 32 transits later in the month.
Panama recently declared an emergency over El Niño, a weather pattern causing severe drought, rising surface temperatures, and erratic global rainfall. The high bid far exceeds the canal's average auction price of around $55,000.
Handling five percent of global maritime trade, the vital shipping route has seen soaring demand and rising auction prices as severe weather and geopolitical disruptions impact trade.
