Panama Canal congestion hits yearly high, prompting Jones Act waivers in International Shipping News 05/06/2026 Panama Canal congestion has climbed to the highest levels this year, prompting US authorities to grant multiple Jones Act waivers for domestic shipments even as the canal authority pledged to maintain full transit capacity through December despite looming maintenance and El Niño risks. The Panama Canal Authority will conduct a dry chamber overhaul from June 9-17, reducing daily transit slots to 16 from the current operational capacity of 36-40 transits, according to shipping analysts at BIMCO. The maintenance comes as wait times have already climbed to 3.2 days for southbound vessels and 2.3 days for northbound traffic, with average waiting periods rising 50% year over year to 47 hours, the analysts said. “So far this year, ship transits via the Panama Canal have increased 8% year over year to a daily average of 38, driven by the tanker sector,” Filipe Gouveia, shipping analysis manager at BIMCO, said, driven by surging US energy exports to Asia and the Americas’ West Coast following the Strait of Hormuz closure. The growing backlog has driven the US Maritime Administration to issue Jones Act waivers allowing foreign-flagged ships to transport goods between US ports, particularly to the West Coast. In 2026 so far, 21 waivers have been granted to vessels en route from the US Gulf Coast, 11 from the West Coast and nine from the Atlantic Coast, all bound for West Coast destinations, according to MARAD. The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, known as the Jones Act, requires that ships transporting merchandise between US points must be US-built, US-owned and US-flagged. The Jones Act waivers provide an alternative for domestic US shipments, allowing foreign vessels to move cargoes between US Gulf Coast and West Coast ports without transiting the canal. Platts last assessed the Jones Act Medium Range term-charter rates steady at $91,000/day May 27 for the 10-15 year-o