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Panama Canal sees spike in vessel traffic due to war in Middle East

AL-MONITOR
Apr 28, 2026
A drone view shows the Bahamas‑flagged LNG tanker Nohshu Maru sailing through the Panama Canal as it operates at top capacity, with the war in Iran boosting demand from owners and operators of liquefied natural gas vessels, in Panama City, Panama, March 24, 2026. REUTERS/Enea Lebrun
A drone view shows the Bahamas‑flagged LNG tanker Nohshu Maru sailing through the Panama Canal as it operates at top capacity, with the war in Iran boosting demand from owners and operators of liquefied natural gas vessels, in Panama City, Panama, March 24, 2026. REUTERS/Enea Lebrun — Enea Lebrun

PANAMA CITY, April 28 (Reuters) - The Panama Canal Authority, an autonomous agency that runs the major freight channel through Central America, on Tuesday said the U.S.-Iran war in the Middle East should cause more shipments to travel through the canal.

"The expectation is that this will continue until the situation in the Middle East is resolved," the agency's finance chief Victor Vial said at a meeting, noting that since October the canal had registered some 300 vessels crossings compared with the same period last fiscal year.

(Reporting by Elida Moreno, Editing by Natalia Siniawski)