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Panama Canal: ship transits and queues

No commercial ship was counted crossing the Panama Canal in the 24 hours to Oct 6, 2026, 15:13 UTC: 0 towards the Atlantic (Colón) and 0 towards the Pacific (Balboa). 0 were counted in the last 7 days and 7 in the last 30. 0 ships are moving through the passage now and 0 are waiting at its anchorages.

There is not enough history for a baseline yet: counting started on September 23, 2026, and a baseline needs 14 days.

Ships waiting now: 0, against a 14-day median of 0.

Voydar's AIS coverage of the Panama Canal is thin today, so these counts are far below the real traffic. They show what our receivers see, not the canal's or strait's own figures.

Transits, 24 h
0
Transits, 7 days
0
Transits, 30 days
7
In the passage now
0
Waiting at anchor
0

Derived estimateMethod seadar.waterway_transits v1, confidence 0.3, computed Oct 6, 2026, 15:13 UTC. Inputs: aisstream.

Ships in the passage now

Commercial ships moving at 1 knot or more inside the passage, with an AIS position from the last hour.

None right now.

Ships waiting at anchor

Commercial ships under 1 knot at the anchorages either side, with an AIS position from the last 3 hours.

None right now.

Transits counted in the last 24 hours

Each row is one ship seen on both sides of the gate line. The time is its first position on the far side.

No transit counted in the last 24 hours.

Ports at either end

Panama Canal: daily transits from satellite AIS (IMF PortWatch)

Estimates published by the International Monetary Fund's PortWatch, built from satellite and terrestrial AIS. They cover waters our own receivers do not reach yet. These are the IMF's figures, not Voydar's counts.

The IMF estimates 189 ship transits in the 7 days and 851 in the 30 days to Sep 27, 2026. That is 10% less than the same 30 days a year earlier (945).

Container
224
Tanker
377
Dry bulk
143
General cargo
50
Ro-ro
57

Estimated cargo carried through it in those 30 days: 25.4 million tonnes.

IMF PortWatch daily figures for Panama Canal, last 14 days
09-14
23
09-15
25
09-16
25
09-17
28
09-18
27
09-19
28
09-20
27
09-21
25
09-22
32
09-23
27
09-24
26
09-25
24
09-26
25
09-27
30

Sources: Kpler; UN Global Platform; IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org). IMF estimates, updated weekly; the latest days are revised. portwatch.imf.org. Counts cover container ships, tankers, dry bulk, general cargo and ro-ro vessels (30-day totals above).

Navigational warnings in force

NGA maritime safety broadcasts whose area touches the Panama Canal and its approaches.

  • NAVAREA IV 924/2026 · Sep 24, 2026, 18:37 UTC

    241837Z SEP 26 NAVAREA IV 924/26. 1. NAVAREA IV MOBILE OFFSHORE DRILLING UNITS POSITIONS AT 241615Z SEP: A. AGOSTO 12 19-23.0N 092-03.1W. B. ARGOS PLATFORM 27-10.4N 090-22.0W. C. ATLANTIS 19-23.9N 092-02.3W. D. AUGER TLP 27-32.7N 092-26.6W. E. (NEW POSITION) BLUE EAGLE 18-31.8N 093-20.3W. F. BORR RAN 18-20.4N 093-53.6W. G. (NEW RIG) BORR SIF 07-08.3N 055-41.1W. H. BP ATLANTIS PLATFORM 27-11.7N 090-01.6W. I. (NEW RIG) CAMPECHE 19-33.7N 092-11.0W. J. CENTENARIO GR 21-07.7N 097-08.1W. K. (NEW POSITION) CHIHUAHUA 19-17.7N 091-57.5W. L. CME I 19-34.6N 092-02.7W. M. CME II 18-34.4N 092-46.2W. N. COATZACOALCOS 18-14.0N 094-12.9W. O. CPOC MAGNOLI

  • NAVAREA IV 545/2026 · Jun 6, 2026, 21:26 UTC

    062126Z JUN 26 NAVAREA IV 545/26 LM BUOY 09-25.99N 079-49.78W MISSING.

  • NAVAREA IV 113/2026 · Feb 6, 2026, 00:00 UTC

    061649Z FEB 26 NAVAREA IV 113/26(26). CARIBBEAN SEA. PANAMA. MANZANILLO ENTRANCE WEST HEAD LIGHT 09-22.90N 079-53.90W DAMAGED.

  • NAVAREA IV 663/2025 · Jun 24, 2025, 00:00 UTC

    240832Z JUN 25 NAVAREA IV 663/25(26). WESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA. PANAMA. STARBOARD HAND 4 BUOY 09-23.52N 079-53.87W MISSING.

  • NAVAREA IV 650/2025 · Jun 20, 2025, 00:00 UTC

    200559Z JUN 25 NAVAREA IV 650/25(26). WESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA. PANAMA. PORT HAND 3 BUOY 09-23.52N 079-53.75W MISSING.

  • NAVAREA IV 504/2025 · May 7, 2025, 00:00 UTC

    070902Z MAY 25 NAVAREA IV 504/25(26). WESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA. PANAMA. MANZANILLO ENTRANCE LIGHT 09-22.90N 079-53.90W TEMPORARILY CHANGED TO WHITE.

Forecast

Model forecast for Panama Canal over the next 72 hours, every 6 hours: wind, gusts, waves and visibility. Times in UTC.

Time (UTC)Wind (kn)FromGusts (kn)Waves (m)Period (s)Visibility (km)
4290°110.2NaN21
8301°170.3NaN24
211°50.2NaN18
0165°30.2NaN16
3267°100.3NaN20
3305°90.3NaN23
144°40.3NaN24
191°40.3NaN16
2262°90.3NaN14
212°80.3NaN7.1

Forecast: ECMWF IFS 0.25° + ECMWF WAM, run of Oct 6, 2026, 00:00 UTC. Visibility: NOAA GFS 0.25° + GFS-Wave (WAVEWATCH III), run of Oct 6, 2026, 06:00 UTC. Waves are taken from the wave model's nearest sea point, 33 km away.

Source: ECMWF open data (IFS 0.25° forecasts, ECMWF WAM waves). This service is based on data and products of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Source: www.ecmwf.int. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Licence: CC-BY-4.0 + ECMWF Terms of Use.

Source: NOAA GFS 0.25° and GFS-Wave (WAVEWATCH III) forecasts. Forecast: NOAA NCEP GFS / GFS-Wave (WAVEWATCH III). Licence: US Government work (public domain); NOAA Open Data Dissemination.

A model forecast, not an observation. Not for navigation.

How the transits are counted

Voydar draws a gate line across the Panama Canal and a 12 km band either side of it. A position counts as being on a side only outside that band, so ferries and harbour craft that work near the line are never counted. A transit is a commercial ship (a valid IMO number; tugs, pilots, law enforcement, pleasure and sailing craft excluded) seen on one side and then on the other within 48 hours. Positions come from AIS feeds Voydar may show (AISstream, BarentsWatch, Digitraffic). Every count is a lower bound: our receivers do not see every ship. Information only, not for navigation. Methodology

Other canals and straits

Data as of Oct 6, 2026, 15:19 UTC.