A container ship reportedly paid about $4 million to skip the Panama Canal queue as ships waiting to cross the trade route faced delays of about 10 days. The buyer was reported to be Seaspan Benefactor, a 10,100 TEU vessel moving through a waterway where transit prices have climbed to record highs.
The Panama Canal Authority runs daily auctions that let shipowners bid for a place ahead of the line. Starting bids open at about $15,000 for smaller cargo vessels and $55,000 for the largest ships, but the recent winning bid was more than double the average bid placed during the previous seven days.
Panama Canal auctions surge
Shipowners are paying up to avoid the queue as more vessels stay away from the Gulf and the Red Sea, where Fighting in the Middle East has effectively closed strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab. The pressure is feeding through to commercial traffic linking Asia and the US, with the Panama canal carrying more demand than its current conditions can handle cleanly.
That congestion is unfolding while falling water levels linked to El Niño are tightening operations. In July, the ACP cut the maximum authorised draft, forcing ships transiting its Neopanamax locks to carry lighter cargoes so traffic can keep moving through Gatun Lake.
ACP draft limits
Earlier this month, the ACP said it would impose limits in late August and early September on how low vessels can travel through the water. The authority said it was ready to use preventive measures during El Niño based on lessons learned during 2023-4.
Some shipowners are worried the ACP could go further and restrict the number of vessels allowed to transit the waterway. The ACP has already recorded a 5% increase in transits between October and June, averaging 35 a day, and a higher tonnage moved through the canal during that period.
Seaspan Benefactor faces higher costs
Seaspan Benefactor now sits in the most expensive version of the canal’s auction system: a ship can pay a standard opening bid or spend far more to jump the line. The gap between $15,000 and $55,000 at the starting gate and the $4 million paid for the shortcut shows how sharply the premium rises when delays stretch and cargo space becomes scarce.
For shipowners, the immediate decision is commercial rather than diplomatic: pay the auction price, accept about 10 days in line, or wait for the ACP’s late-August and early-September limits to take effect. Whether the ACP will also limit the number of vessels allowed through the Panama Canal remains the open question that will shape the next round of crossings.
