PANAMA CITY — The Panama Canal handled a record 521 million tonnes of cargo in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, according to figures released by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) on October 21, as ships sought alternative routes following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz during the Middle East war.

Source: Marine Insight, reporting ACP figures and AFP, Oct 21-22, 2026

The canal recorded 13,951 ship transits during the fiscal year, up from 13,404 the previous year, while cargo volume rose 6.5% and revenue rose 16.6% to $6.6 billion, the ACP figures showed. Yaani: $6.6 billion is about $660 crore in revenue for the year. The previous cargo record was 518 million tonnes, set in 2022.

Source: Marine Insight / ACP annual figures, Oct 2026

521 million tonnesRecord cargo in FY2026, up 6.5%
13,951Ship transits, up from 13,404
$6.6 billionRevenue, up 16.6% — yaani about $660 crore

Canal administrator Ilya Espino de Marotta told Agence France-Presse that ship traffic increased after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passed before the conflict. The Panama Canal itself carries around 5% of global maritime trade, Marine Insight reported.

Source: AFP via Marine Insight, Oct 2026

The authority temporarily raised its daily transit limit from 36 to 41 ships to handle the extra traffic, Espino de Marotta said. But drought linked to El Niño later lowered water levels in the two artificial lakes the locks depend on, forcing the limit down to 32 ships a day in early September before it was raised again to 33, according to Marine Insight.

Source: Marine Insight, Oct 2026

The Maritime Executive's reporting of the same ACP results, via HMT News, added that the largest Neopanamax locks accounted for just over 52% of total tonnage, with tonnage in that category rising more than 8% in the year, and that growth was driven by energy shipping and container vessels.

Source: The Maritime Executive via HMT News, Oct 2026

The record year underlines how disruption at one chokepoint — Hormuz — pushes trade onto alternative routes thousands of kilometres away, even when those routes face their own climate limits, as the canal's El Niño water shortage showed in the final months of the fiscal year.

Source: Balitang Marino, reporting ACP presentation and AFP, Oct 22, 2026