Maersk will resume sailing through the Panama Canal on its route between the US East Coast and Australia from May 10, as the rainy season alleviates the problem of low water levels on the vital trade route, Maersk says in an announcement to customers.

The OC1 route will return to its old rotation that was in place before the addition of the Panama rail link, which will be phased out at the end of May, the carrier writes.

Since last summer, problems with low water levels in the Panama Canal have caused long queues and high prices to travel through the waterway, which is one of the shipping industry’s busiest hubs.

Translated using DeepL with additional editing by Kristoffer Grønbæk