The Panama Canal, one of the major shipping routes through which 40 percent of container goods sold in America travels, currently has a 21-day wait time for ships attempting to make the passage.
And the situation will only get worse before it gets better.
The number of vessels waiting to sneak between North and South America currently stands at 154.
The traffic jam is thanks to a severe drought that has afflicted the area since this Spring 2023.
About $270 billion in cargo travels through the canal every year.
Not only are reservations for making it through the canal cut down, but the Panama Canal Authority also issued a weight limit of about 40 percent lower than the previous limit, leaving heavier tankers already on their way to the canal in a lurch.
Drought conditions have lasted for years now and the multiple lakes which feed the canal and allows the locks to operate, is at a four-year low.
The reduction in traffic is already forcing some tankers, like petroleum vessels, to reroute their cargo to the Atlantic Basin.
So move over Suez Canal, a hip new waterway crisis is in town to mess up our fragile supply chain.
