By Sarah Morland
(Reuters) -The Panama Canal on Friday said it will increase the number of booking slots available in its Panamax and Neopanamax locks, after a severe drought caused one of the world's main maritime trade routes to reduce ship crossings.
From mid-January, the canal authority said in an advisory, it will have 24 transit slots per day, compared to the 18 it had planned in a prior announcement. The additional slots will cover the regulars, supers and neopanamax vessel categories.
The authority said the changes were based on the current and expected levels of the artificial Gatun Lake, which provides the millions of liters (gallons) necessary to operate the waterway.
Applications for the new slots will begin in coming weeks to begin transit on Jan. 16, it said.
The authority warned, however, that due to the continuing water crisis it would for transit dates starting on Jan. 16, allow only one booking slot per customer per date, regardless of when the slot was booked - with some exceptions tied to auction and competition slots.
Slots are prioritized according to highest bid in auction processes, full containers, market and customer rankings.
The customer limit and prioritization of slots will continue until further notice, it added.
Panama's drought, worsened by the El Nino weather phenomenon which warms the Pacific Ocean, has pushed up fees and traffic at the canal, forcing fuel tankers and grain shippers to take longer routes to avoid congestion.
An alternative route takes ships down South America's entire Atlantic coast, crossing the Strait of Magellan at the continent's icy southern tip and heading back up the Pacific coast tracks.
(Reporting by Sarah Morland; Editing by Kylie Madry and Sandra Maler)
