International shippers are paying up to US$2.4m per vessel to jump queues to transit the Panama Canal.
According to Bloomberg, some carriers are paying the additional fees on top of standard charges of $400,000 to avoid ongoing delays caused by this summer’s drought conditions.
Panama Canal Authority holds auctions for those who want to jump the queues. The record charge of $2.4m was paid by a bulk carrier of liquefied petroleum gas.
The organisation announced in August that transit restrictions caused by low water levels would continue for almost a year.