A new update by the Panama Canal Authority (PCA) revealed that the water-saving measures it adopted in the past few months did not prevent the decline of water levels in Gatun Lake.

In fact, the recorded precipitation for October has been the lowest on record since 1950 (41% below), the Canal said in an advisory.

As a result, the authority is reducing the daily number of booking slots for vessels allowed transit in two phases as follows:

• from 3 to 6 November, the number of booking slots will be reduced to 25
• from 7 to 30 November, the number will be reduced to 24

In addition, the PCA intends to make further reductions in December and next year as follows:

• from 1 to 31 December 2023, the number of booking slots will further be reduced to 22
• from 1 to 31 January 2024, the number will be reduced to 20
• and starting 1 February until further notice, the number will be reduced to 18 per day

In a press release, the Canal described the month of October as "the driest since the earliest registers, 73 years ago." It highlighted that these measures are necessary "to preserve freshwater resources and to ensure the safety of transit operations."