Million-dollar bids for Panama Canal
Photo: Matias Delacroix /AP/TT

Million-dollar bids for Panama Canal transit as Strait of Hormuz is blocked

The war in Iran has caused the cost of transiting the Panama Canal to skyrocket.

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A passage usually costs between $300,000 and $400,000. If you don't have a slot, you can skip the line through an auction, for an additional fee that has now skyrocketed to an average of $425,000.

But there are those who pay even more than that.

According to Ricaurte Vásquez, who administers the Panama Canal, one company has paid an extra $4 million to get through the canal.

It was a ship with fuel bound for Europe, which was diverted to Singapore, where it needed to be offloaded because Singapore was running low on fuel, he says.

Other oil companies are said to have paid an extra $3 million to speed up their passage, as oil prices rose when the Strait of Hormuz was blocked.

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AuthorTT News AgencyEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for our readers
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