The Panama Canal Authority plans to cut the number of vessels permitted to cross the waterway daily from 32 to an average of 29.5 in October, the latest in a series of reductions driven by severe drought linked to the El Niño climate phenomenon. The canal — an 82-kilometre passage connecting the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean that handles roughly 5% of global maritime trade and 40% of US container traffic — depends on rainfall feeding Lake Gatun to power its lock system, but the watershed has received below-forecast precipitation. With El Niño forecast to be its strongest in four decades, further restrictions remain possible, raising costs and delays for global shippers already navigating disrupted alternative routes.