Following imposing draft restrictions in four of the last six years, Panama Canal Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez says a new approach is needed since the value of the larger locks, completed for some $5.25 billion in 2016, is for naught if full water draft can’t be guaranteed.

The Panama Canal on Friday increased from 44 feet to 45 feet the permitted depth of vessels passing through the critical waterway as canal authorities have begun to walk back depth limits introduced over the last seven months due to a lack of rainfall.

Container carriers have been altering stowage plans for neo-Panamax ships to mitigate the current draft limits, according to the Panama Canal Authority.

With draft restrictions already imposed in the waterway’s larger locks due to lack of rain, the Panama Canal Authority is working on plans for a third water reservoir that would help replenish the locks system during dry weather.

Japan’s exporters appear to be steadily reducing their reliance on the Suez Canal to reach markets in North and South America.

The toll changes will be the first since the canal opened new locks in June 2016.

Average container ship sizes through the Panama Canal have increased by roughly 47.5 percent to 6,000 TEU since the June 26 opening of the Panama Canal’s larger lock.

The value of recently shunned Panamax container ships is growing faster than other vessel sizes.

The Panama Canal has overtaken the Suez Canal as the favored transit route for carriers operating services between Asia and the US East Coast following the widening of the Central American waterway.

More larger ships expected as carrier alliances revise schedules.

The value of second-hand Panamax container ships has plunged by as much as 45 percent.

Irrational exuberance could result in inflated expectations and overbuilding of transportation infrastructure to the US interior if the cargo volumes don’t materialize.

The Panama Canal’s expanded locks have opened a new path for roll-on, roll-off carriers.

Port touts its proximity to distribution centers along Florida's I-4 corridor.

The Panama Canal has ousted the Suez Canal as the leading route for all-water container services between the Far East and the U.S. East Coast.

Hyundai Merchant Marine plans to deploy six ships with capacities of 10,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units on an existing Asia-U.S. East Coast service via the enlarged Panama Canal.

The larger locks of the Panama Canal open on Sunday, but what impact will they have on global trade and container shipping?