A queue of cargo ships in the Panama Canal, which looks like a traffic jam in the middle of Marginal Tietê, is causing headaches and impacts that could even reverberate in our Sunday market.
O channel, which is a coveted shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, is experiencing slower traffic than BR on a long holiday.
O Panama Canal He's no beginner. With its 80 km long, this engineering work You've seen a lot of water pass by. Annually, approximately 14.000 ships follow this path, representing 6% of world trade.
It's easy? But now, this century-old contraption has a rope around its neck, facing technical problems, lack of space and even the weather giving it a hard time.
The birthplace of the Canal: a French dream that became a nightmare
To understand the current perrengue, we have to go back in time. At the end of the XNUMXth century, a certain Ferdinand de Lesseps, a Frenchman with more ambition than sense, got it into his head that he was going to connect the two oceans.
But the land of Panama It wasn't easy. Nature threw the French a curveball, with torrential rain, disease and even a hill that looked more like a wall. The result? One financial fiasco and a human tragedy, with more than 20.000 lives lost.
Uncle Sam Enters the Scene: The American Turn
It didn't take long for the United States enter the game. With a helping hand from the vaccine and envy-inducing engineering, the Americans turned the French dream into reality.
By 1914, the canal was in full swing, with giant locks and a system of artificial lakes that were a thing of beauty. But, as not everything is rosy, the human cost of this endeavor was high, with thousands of lives lost.
Drought: the ghost that haunts the Canal from Panama
But the Achilles heel of Panama Canal It was always water. And now, with the weather crazier than a nine o'clock soap opera, droughts are becoming routine. Since 2016, the Panama has been facing a severe drought, with water levels down there.
And without water, my friend, there is no canal that works properly. The authorities already have the flea behind their ears, reducing the number of ships and even the weight of the loads so it doesn't go bad.
Against this backdrop, the future of the Panama Canal It's more uncertain than the championship final. If the drought continues to rule, vessels may begin to look for other routes, such as arctic route, which is becoming more accessible with the melting glaciers.
And it's not just commerce that's on the ropes. The canal water is also a source of life for more than 2 million of Panamanians.
Projects on paper: hope for better days
In order not to let the ship sink, the canal administration is racking its brains to find solutions. One of the ideas is to create a new water reservoir to give that gas to the main lake.
But, as everything good takes time, these projects are still on paper, waiting for approval and money to get off the ground.
For now, the situation has improved a little, with ships facing fewer delays. But the water level is still on a tightrope, and the future of the Panama Canal remains as uncertain as the next chapter of the novel.
It remains to be hoped that this engineering giant, which has seen so much history, manages to navigate these turbulent waters and continue to be the pulsating artery of global commerce.
