Panama Canal transit times hit record high

Michelle Wiese Bockmann - Monday 21 April 2008

THE PANAMA Canal is struggling to control major congestion, with transit times nearly doubling on last year to a record 53 hours.

Last week’s backlog averaged 93 vessels, although queues have eased little from their peak in March, when 119 vessels waited as long as eight days to transit the major trade artery.