Drought

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Across
  1. 1. Though Panama has an _______ climate that makes it one of the wettest countries, rainfall there has been 30 percent below average this year, causing water levels to plunge in the lakes that feed the canal and its mighty locks.
  2. 3. But that timeline could well be delayed; the construction of larger locks was completed two years late, in 2016, and that project was ________ by cost disputes.
  3. 9. ________ disruptions at the canal could stoke interest in building land routes in Mexico, Colombia and other countries that have coastlines on both oceans, said Richard Morales, a political economist who is running as an independent candidate for vice president in an election next year.
  4. 11. The canal’s board recently proposed building a new reservoir in the Indio River to _____the water supply and increase traffic through the canal,
  5. 12. “In_______terms, the canal can handle 38 transits per day, so 12 to 15 is a lot,” said Rodrigo Noriega, a lawyer and a columnist for Panama’s La Prensa newspaper.
  6. 14. The canal authority is also limiting how far a ship’s hull can go below the water, known as its ______which significantly reduces the weight it can carry.
  7. 18. But a ______has left the canal without enough water.
  8. 19. is the latest example of how_____ parts of global supply chains can suddenly seize up.
  9. 20. This presents bulk shipping companies with an expensive ______: They can risk waiting for days, pay a big fee to jump the line or avoid the canal entirely by taking a longer route.
  10. 21. which are used to raise and lower ships, forcing officials to slash the number of the ____ allowed through.
Down
  1. 2. Mr. Kalleklev, the shipping executive, said his company decided in August to pay $400,000 in a special auction to move a ship ahead in the ______, roughly doubling the total cost of using the canal.
  2. 4. The canal_____ in July cut the average to 32 vessels, and later announced that the number would drop to 31 on Nov. 1.
  3. 5. In Panama, a lack of water has_____ canal operations in recent years, and some shipping experts say vessels may soon have to avoid the canal altogether if the problem gets worse.
  4. 6. But ships carrying bulk _______generally don’t book passage.
  5. 7. but scientists believe that climate change may be ______
  6. 8. dry ______and raising temperatures in the region.
  7. 10. But ships carrying bulk_______generally don’t book passage.
  8. 13. The problems at the Panama Canal, an engineering ______ that opened in 1914 and handles an estimated 5 percent of seaborne trade,
  9. 15. A portion of these extra costs will be passed on to consumers, already ______ by inflation
  10. 16. Reducing passages helps conserve water, because huge amounts are used up every time a ship goes through the______ as it travels the 40 miles across Panama.
  11. 17. domestic product which generates over 6 percent of Panama’s ____________.