Traffic through the Panama Canal had been backed up because of the effects of Pres Trump's War of Choice against Iran and its effects upon shipping in the Middle East (Suez Canal...)
Panama Canal Slot Prices Break Records as War and Drought Hit US Shoppers (August 15, 2026)
www.techtimes.com
... The most expensive shortcut in the world just got more expensive. With two of the planet's major shipping corridors effectively shut, companies moving oil, gas, and consumer goods to and from the United States are paying record sums -- in one case more than $4.6 million -- to secure a single passage through the Panama Canal.
That bill is already being passed to American consumers.
On Thursday, a liquefied petroleum gas supertanker named the G. Arete, owned by South Korea's SK Shipping Co., paid $4.6 million at auction to jump the queue and secure a priority transit to the Caribbean. ...
How Canal Slot Prices Rose Sixteenfold in Months
Under normal conditions, ships crossing the canal pay flat reservation fees through the Panama Canal Authority's booking system.
Opening bids at the daily priority auctions -- the mechanism that lets vessels with urgent cargo jump the queue -- begin at around $15,000 for smaller vessels and $55,000 for the largest ships.
As recently as February 2026, Neopanamax vessels were clearing those auctions for roughly $55,000 per February baseline apiece.
That figure now appears almost fictional. Daily average auction prices for August have reached approximately $1.1 million, according to Argus Media data reported by the Financial Times " more than 16 times year-on-year.
The average auction price for Neopanamax vessels -- the largest ships the canal can accommodate, including laden LNG carriers and major containerships -- has set a Neopanamax average record at $2.5 million per slot.
Individual records since late July show Neopanamax slots selling for up to $3.78 million and Panamax slots for up to $2.63 million, per Argus Media. ...
