Big Jam! 126 Cargo Ships Are Waiting For Passage, With A Maximum Queue Of 12 Days.

The impact of the continuing drought on the Panama Canal and global trade is escalating.

According to Panama Canal Authority data, as of 13 local time, there are about 126 cargo ships waiting for passage near the mouth of the Panama Canal; the longest queue time may reach 12 days.

The latest auction price for the priority of passage of ships, that is, the "queue-jumping fee", set a record of nearly 4 million US dollars, significantly driving up the cost of transporting goods in transit.

In order to cope with the backlog of ships, the Panama Canal Authority has organized a "queue-jumping" auction for shipowners who want to pass as soon as possible, allowing them to obtain early passage qualification through bidding.

In the latest auction in November, a Japanese energy company paid a queue-jumping fee of $3.975 million (29 million yuan) for a liquefied petroleum gas carrier to get priority through the Panama Canal. Coupled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in regular transportation costs, the total cost may have exceeded 30 million yuan.

After paying a huge cost, the ship will pass through the Panama Canal on the 15th.

Public information shows that about 26% of the transport business of the Panama Canal every year involves commodities such as liquefied petroleum gas and liquefied natural gas.

The Panama Canal Authority said the highest bidder at the auction was usually liquefied petroleum gas or liquefied natural gas carriers.

Shipbrokers predict that the upcoming auction may set a new record.

Liquefied natural gas is an important energy commodity exported by the United States to all parts of the world, especially to Asia.

Because of the high cost of passage and the long way to go, more and more US LNG shippers have chosen to sail for two more weeks, or nearly 6,000 nautical miles, to bypass the Suez Canal or the Cape of Good Hope to Asia, which has also led to insufficient market capacity and soaring freight rates.