A shipowner paid about $4m to secure priority transit for container vessel Seaspan Benefactor through the Panama Canal, near a historic high, sources said. Iran-related hostilities have pushed global shipping to seek alternative routes, worsening canal congestion. Neo-Panamax LNG carriers, LPG ships, and crude and product tankers face roughly 10-day waits for transit, the longest since May. Restrictions at the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb have prompted Asian oil, gas, fertilizer and chemic

A shipowner paid about $4m to secure priority transit for container vessel Seaspan Benefactor through the Panama Canal, near a historic high, sources said. Iran-related hostilities have pushed global shipping to seek alternative routes, worsening canal congestion. Neo-Panamax LNG carriers, LPG ships, and crude and product tankers face roughly 10-day waits for transit, the longest since May. Restrictions at the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb have prompted Asian oil, gas, fertilizer and chemical traders to reroute. Panama Canal lock maintenance and El Niño-driven low rainfall have reduced capacity, lifting vessel waiting costs.