A liquefied petroleum gas tanker paid a record $5.3 million to secure priority passage through the Panama Canal before restrictions linked to El Niño take effect. Panama Canal deputy administrator Ilya Espino de Marotta gave the information to AFP on Thursday. Bloomberg reported that South Korean company SK Gas paid the amount for its G. Spirit tanker to transit the canal on September 1.

Two days later, the canal authority will reduce the number of vessels allowed to pass daily because drought has lowered water levels. Panama declared an emergency on Tuesday, becoming the latest Central American country to do so amid severe regional drought. El Niño raises surface-water temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, affecting wind patterns and rainfall worldwide.

From September 3, daily canal transits will fall from 36 to 34, before declining further to 32 later in September. Unbooked vessels typically wait about five days, while auctions offer last-minute transit opportunities. The authority said average auction prices from October 2025 to February 2026 were about $55,000. In April, an LNG vessel paid $4 million to avoid waiting.