The Panama Canal Authority, in Advisory to Shipping A-29-2026 dated 20 August, cut the number of daily slots in the Transit Reservation System [E1][E2]. For booking dates beginning 4 September, Neopanamax locks go to nine daily slots and Panamax locks to twenty-five, a total of 34 [E2]. For booking dates beginning 15 September, Panamax locks fall to twenty-three and the daily total to 32 [E2]. A confirmed reservation, the advisory says, is the only mechanism that guarantees a transit date [E2].
The hydrology is in the same PDF. Cumulative rainfall across the Canal watershed in the current hydrological year, May through August, has been 34 percent below the historical average; watershed inflows are 44 percent below theirs [E2]. Draft reductions previously scheduled are postponed on the current level of Gatun Lake: 14.63 metres (48.0 feet) until 2 September, then 14.48 metres (47.5 feet) until 1 October [E2]. Water-saving measures already in place have not been enough to avoid the slot cut [E1][E2].
On 18 May the Authority had said current data did not forecast the need for transit restrictions through 31 December 2026, while maintaining 38 daily transits [E3]. A-29-2026 is the opposite instrument. It is a booking-system capacity limit, not a statement that the locks cannot physically move more ships [E2]. Vessels that arrive without a reservation face longer waits. The Authority keeps the right, under Notice N-07, to suspend all or part of the reservation system [E2]. A companion advisory, A-28-2026, regroups auction slots by cargo type [E4].
Queue lengths, auction clearing prices and diversions to Suez or the Cape are not in the ACP text [E2]. Secondary reports that average transits were already near 34 to 36 are not Authority claims in A-29 [E2]. What is established is the slot table, the rainfall deficit, the Gatun draft postponement, and the reversal of the May no-restriction line [E1][E2][E3].
Further cuts remain possible. The advisory says the Authority continues to monitor watershed conditions and may announce additional measures [E2]. Whether September’s realised daily transits stay at or below 33, and whether the 1 October draft cut actually lands, are later clocks [E2]. Saturday’s record is the published slot numbers [E1][E2].