As Panama Canal traffic plunges by a third, a Nicaraguan route is in play
Shipping companies are searching for alternate routes.
This column is for Callaway Climate Insights subscribers only, but it’s OK to share once in a while. Was it shared with you? Please subscribe.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F42683c8f-8d70-43e3-8534-bd0be076358f_1280x960.jpeg)
(Michael Molinski is a senior economist at Trendline Economics. He’s worked for Fidelity, Charles Schwab and Wells Fargo, and previously as a foreign correspondent and editor for Bloomberg News and MarketWatch.)
PANAMA CITY (Callaway Climate Insights) — Ship crossings at the Panama Canal have been cut by more than 35% and inflated the cost of using the channel as a result of the severe drought affecting the region, prompting shipping companies to search for alternative routes — including resurrecting the idea of building a canal across Nicaragua.
The drought has created a traffic jam of ships, and some shipping companies have forked out as much as $4 million in an auction to use the canal for a single crossing.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Callaway Climate Insights to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.