Maersk issued an advisory to customers using its northbound and southbound OC1 service, operating between Oceania and the Americas would no longer transit the Panama Canal and instead utilise a rail connection across the Central American country.
“Based on current and projected water levels in Gatun Lake, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has needed to make reductions to the amount and weight of vessels that can pass through the canal. Whilst we continue to work closely with the ACP, moderating and aligning our operations to fit the changes, we have made changes to services to ensure that our customers are impacted as minimally as possible,” Maersk said.
For the Atlantic loop of the OC1 service vessels will turn at Manzanillo, Panama, dropping off cargo heading for Australia and New Zealand and picking up cargo heading for Latin and North America. “We will continue to operate the PANZ service from the US West Coast to Oceania to provide coverage from both coasts. Additionally, we will connect ports in the Gulf to the OC1 service in similar ways to today,” Maersk added.“We remain in close contact with the Panama Canal Authority to ensure that we can give you timely updates.”
