Source page: McKinsey & Company
Commentary
Unsmooth sailing
Logistics | Global Trade
February 19, 2024 – The Panama Canal is vital to global trade, with about 14,000 vessels passing through each year. But a severe drought has created a water shortage in the lake that supplies the canal, leading to restrictions that could cut the amount of cargo making the journey by about 35 percent. Senior partner John Murnane and colleagues note that global supply chains could be affected if ships choose to use alternate routes—potentially leading to longer sailing times and increased costs. Click through the interactive to see more.
Interactive
To read the article, see “How could Panama Canal restrictions affect supply chains?,” January 19, 2024.
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Visual form
Four-panel map-and-route display.
Layout / body structure
The chart is a four-panel built around paired globes, so the reader moves panel by panel from the Panama Canal shock to the alternative routes that absorb the diverted traffic.
What is being compared
It compares the drop in Panama Canal transits with the increase in ship traffic diverted around the Cape of Good Hope, through the Strait of Magellan, and through the Suez Canal.
Measurement system
The measure is annual number of transits, represented by proportional circles placed on global map views at each affected route.
Visible structure inside the graphic
Each panel shows a pair of globe views with one dominant route circle, so the visual anatomy is a sequence of route-specific map callouts rather than a conventional axis-based chart.
Main takeaway from the visual
The Panama Canal restriction does not disappear inside the system; it visibly reroutes a large amount of traffic onto longer paths across several other maritime corridors.
Key standout values or extremes
The first panel shows 3,964 fewer annual transits through the Panama Canal, followed by 1,954 more around the Cape of Good Hope, 998 more through the Strait of Magellan, and 469 more through the Suez Canal.
Controls / sequence, when applicable
The reader steps through four panels, each one isolating a different route effect so the reallocation of traffic is understood one corridor at a time.
Companion media, when applicable
There is no separate companion audio or video; the chart is the full visual on this page.