Blockage in the Strait of Hormuz intensifies shipping pressure, with single-ship passage auctions on the Panama Canal soaring to $4 million
As tensions between Iran and the United States over passage through the Strait of Hormuz persist, global shipping is facing bottlenecks, with demand for available transit slots surging sharply and auction prices climbing dramatically. Increasing numbers of commercial vessels are rerouting through the Panama Canal, transporting goods either diverted from other routes or sourced from alternative countries to avoid waters near Iran.
According to reports from agencies including AP and Le Monde, in April this year, a vessel carrying liquefied petroleum gas paid as much as $4 million in an auction to secure priority passage through the Panama Canal—setting a new record. With security conditions deteriorating around the Strait of Hormuz, many Asian refining companies have begun shifting toward purchasing oil and liquefied natural gas from the United States, forcing ships to pass through the Panama Canal more frequently.
Passage rights on the Panama Canal are allocated via an auction mechanism, with prices rising rapidly in recent times. Data from the Panama Canal Authority show that the average fee obtained through auctions between March and April this year reached $385,000, compared to a previous average of about $135,000.
The canal authorities stated that such auctions typically occur when vessels fail to book passage in advance, and the canal can accommodate only a very limited number of additional energy-carrying vessels each day—approximately 4 to 5 ships, depending on channel capacity. As a result, available transit windows are extremely tight.
Officials overseeing the canal pointed out that the auction system is not unilaterally determined by the canal itself, but rather reflects competitive bidding among shipping companies amid resource scarcity. This mechanism enables the Panama Canal Authority to increase revenue during peak demand periods and optimize transit efficiency under constrained capacity. Some industry experts note that using congestion to set pricing has become increasingly common across global critical infrastructure.
Nevertheless, the Panama Canal also emphasized that these high auction prices represent isolated cases. These exceptional figures are primarily driven by short-term spikes in demand and do not reflect a general trend.
In the first half of fiscal year 2026, the Panama Canal completed 6,288 transits, representing a 3.7% increase compared to the same period last year. Currently, the canal handles around 34 to 37 transits per day, with a maximum capacity of up to 40 transits per day during peak periods—the canal’s designed maximum throughput. Despite increased transportation pressure recently, relevant institutions maintain that overall operations remain within manageable limits.
About 6% of global trade passes through the Panama Canal, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across Central America. Shipping experts note that after years of drought impacts, the canal has gradually resumed normal operations. Cargo transported via the canal includes automotive parts, grains, and consumer electronics—goods that may be shipped from China to Europe or the U.S. East Coast, or vice versa. However, although some oil is transported through the canal, due to size limitations of vessels, it cannot serve as a large-scale alternative to the Strait of Hormuz. Ultra-large crude carriers are too big to pass through the canal.
Source: rfi
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1863748742043651/
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