The Panama Canal

The Panama Canal: The 8th man-made wonder of the world. It has shaped the history and culture of Panama, starting back when Columbus discovered that Panama was a narrow isthmus between the two seas. Since then, Panama has been a melting pot of people, goods and cultures. Many Chinese immigrants came over to help construct the railroad that transported goods across the isthmus long before the canal was created. During the long period of construction of the canal, people from all over the world came looking for work, a great many of them being from Jamaica and Barbados. This international influence is very apparent- it is a very mixed country in terms of race.

Constructing the 50 mile long canal required a whole lot of digging. In fact, it is estimated that it would be the equivalent of digging straight through our planet and 900km beyond! The French began digging a sea level canal (no locks) through the area in 1880. After 20 years, they abandoned the effort because of lack of funding and worker deaths. It was a rough work environment and the majority of deaths can be attributed to landslides and tropical illnesses like malaria and yellow fever. The U.S. re-initiated the project in 1904 and it took 10 more years. Upon it's completion, the canal and a 5 mile stretch on each side of the water- known as the canal zone - became U.S. territory, which literally split the country in half. In 1977, Jimmy Carter signed the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, an agreement to hand over the canal to the people of Panama on December 31, 1999. Between 1977 and 1999, the canal was under joint U.S.-Panamanian administration, and on December 31, 1999, full power was transfered to Panama, might to the delight of the Panamanian people.

Since taking control, Panama has made it a safer and more profitable operation. When it originally opened, the canal was largely a strategic military location for the U.S. Mostly Navy ships and U.S. submarines crossed the canal. With today's global economy, it has become an incredibly important commercial shipping link. In 2009, 14,342 vessels crossed the canal, earning $1.9 billion.

So, with this kind of history and importance, we weren't about to miss an opportunity to see the canal. Below is a shot of Miraflores locks, located on the Pacific end. You can see the difference in water level.

The canal actually has three sets of locks, each consisting of two lanes. Gatun locks has 3 steps on the Atlantic side while the Pacific side has two sets: Pedro Miguel locks (one step) and Miraflores (two steps). A common misconception is that the canal raises or lowers ships to the level of the opposite ocean. This is simply not true. The sea level is the same for both the Atlantic and Pacific (which is why altitude can be uniformly measured from sea level). The ships are raised 85ft in order to navigate through Lake Gatun, a massive man made lake that provides the water reserves for the canal and makes up 15 miles of the canal's route. After crossing, the ships are subsequently lowered 85ft back to sea level.

In the early mornings, a parade of big ships passes through the locks on each end in an effort to complete the 12 hour journey to the other side before nightfall. Previous to entering, most of the ships have to spend an average of 24 hours in anchorage outside of the canal, waiting their turn to pass through. This is because ships pass through in the order in which they arrive at port. The canal is generally a very efficient operation; however, if one lane of locks is closed for maintenance, there can be up to a seven day logjam. Because of this, many ships with time sensitive cargo (like bananas that can rot in the hot sun) choose to reserve a set date for passage through the canal. Ships can book up to 18 months in advance for an extra fee. However, if they are late by even one day, they go to the end of the line and forfeit the advance booking fee. The booking fees and regular transport fees are only payable in cash or wire transfer, prior to the trip. The Panama Canal does not accept credit, nor can money already paid be applied to a separate trip.

Tolls vary depending on the size of the ships. The largest amount paid was $480,000 by a cruise ship in 2009. The lowest toll was paid by Richard Halliburton in 1928, when he decided to swim through it. Back then, tolls were estimated by weight so Richard paid $.036 for his 150 lbs. He swam 5 miles per day and was accompanied by a sniper to shoot crocodiles. It took him 10 days. After that, the canal was closed to swimmers.

Below is a shot of a ship being raised in Miraflores locks. It is headed for Lake Gatun and eventually the Atlantic.

When the ships enter the locks, they are guided through with the help of these electric locomotives, known as "mules". These locomotives do not pull the ships but are used to help keep them straight. This is important because with the really big ships, there is only about a two foot gap on each side!

We stayed at the locks until the afternoon so we could see the big ships that started their mornings in the Caribbean.

Once the ships enter the locks, the gates close behind them, and through the good old force of gravity, water is spilled into the next chamber in order to raise or lower the ships, depending on which way they are headed. This ship was being lowered. The locks spill 3 million gallons/minute and lower the water level 1 meter/minute. It is a freshwater canal and 26 million gallons of the water is lost to the ocean with every trip.

Below you can notice how much the ship has lowered. It takes about 8 minutes to go through each step.

After going through the second step at Miraflores, this ship has been lowered back down to sea level and is free to cruise about the Pacific!

It is an impressive engineering feat that was cool to see from above. However, we were fortunate enough to have been gifted the funds to take a cruise through the canal! (big thanks to Laura's family) In the photo below I am on yet another boat with the Panama Canal as my background!

It was really fun to be on the water for many reasons. For example, we got to pass the giant cargo ships making the trip. Upon seeing that we were sightseers, some ships blared their horns for us. Awesome.

Our journey started at the midway point of the canal, just before the narrowest section, called the Gaillard Cut. When the canal was being constructed, this was the site of many landslides. This section of the canal can be tricky for a large vessel to navigate. In order to assure safety, to cross the canal, a Panama Canal Pilot (maritime officers and graduates of a maritime academy - specially trained to navigate canal) boards the ship and takes over. This is the only canal in the world where a captain relinquishes control of the ship to someone else. The pilots board the ship at one end, safely navigate the ship through and are then picked up at the other end.

The largest ships that can fit through the canal are called Panamax ships. These ships are enormous and can carry up to 4,500 shipping containers (each one the size of a semi trailer)! They are only allowed to go one at a time and in one direction through the Cut. After seeing the size of these ships, this seems like a really smart idea! Another requirement for the Panamax ships is that a tugboat must be tied behind the ship to help steer it. This required service is not provided for free. They actually charge $3000 per hour. I wonder how much of a cut the tug captains get?

Along the Cut, we also noticed that there were lights along the water. This is because the canal transports ships 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The black and white flags on the shore help the pilots steer through the narrow cut.

I mentioned that the largest ships that currently fit through the canal are the Panamax ships. These are not the largest commercial shipping vessels in the world. There are actually Post-Panamax ships that carry 12,500 shipping containers. Post-Panamax ships make up 35% of the world's commercial fleet and currently only traverse open oceans. Naturally, Panama wants a piece of the pie. In 2007, they started an expansion that will accommodate these larger ships. The expansion didn't begin without the permission of the people- they held a national referendum and it passed by a very wide margin. They are adding two new lanes of locks at each of the 3 lock locations and are deepening, straightening and widening the canal. Without the expansion, it is predicted that the canal will reach capacity in 2012 and will cease to be an important shipping route. Below you can see some of the widening work being done. This is mostly done with explosives.

As we cruised through the canal, we came across what is known as Gold Hill and Contractor's Hill. During the French construction of the canal, there was some difficulty finding investors to finance the work through the Cut. Then, rather conveniently, a rumor was started that there was gold in this particular hill. Bonds sold without problem after that. Upon completing the dig, no gold was found. Those pesky rumors...

Gold Hill and Contractor's Hill also just so happens to be the location of the continental divide. It is the only gap in the whole divide. Here we are, slipping from the Atlantic side to the Pacific side.

After cruising a bit more, we got to the fun part: the locks. We went through 3 steps to get down to sea level, but I will just show you the process once. You enter the lock as seen below. You will notice there are two sets of doors- the main lock door and the safety gate.

This was a "special lockage" for small ships. Since the amount of water that is spilled is the same whether it is a Panamax ship or a sailboat passing through, the Canal Authority tries to economize by having as many small ships as possible go through at once. Our 300 passenger cruise ship was tied to a lock wall and these sailboats were tied to us. Once everyone was in the lock, the back lock doors were closed and the spilling of the water began in order to lower us.

You couldn't really feel that you were going down 1 meter/minute but pretty soon you couldn't see over the walls anymore. A note about the walls: they were built to last, 55ft thick and made of concrete!

Once the water level is equal on both sides of the gate, these 96 year old doors swing open with the help of a 25 horsepower engine and you move on to the next step. Impressively, the original doors are still in use, largely due to the fact that $200 million is spent per year on maintenance of the canal. These doors are huge- up to 7 stories high and weighing 700 tons. They are filled with air to help them float once the water level is equal.

After our cruise ship was lowered 3 times for a total of 85 feet, we were back at sea level. We took one last look at the enormous gates to the Miraflores locks and marveled at what man can accomplish. The final gates at Miraflores are the tallest in the canal because the engineers had to take into account the tidal variation of the Pacific, which is 20ft. Comparatively, the variation is only 1.5ft on the Caribbean side.

It was smooth sailing from there on!

After making it through the canal, we actually passed a Panamax ship being loaded with containers that crossed the isthmus on train (more cost-effective for smaller loads).

Remember how I mentioned that Panama Canal Pilots are required to be on board the ships? Well, this rule applies to ALL ships- from Panamax ships to the smallest of sailboats. Even Richard Halliburton was followed by a canal pilot in a boat when he swam through. Our cruise ship was no exception. We got to watch as our pilot was picked up after safely navigating us through half of the canal. I bet he felt like it was a pretty easy day at work compared to days when he has to pilot the Panamax ships!

We had a quick glance back at La Puente de las Americas (The Bridge of the Americas), which spans the canal and just so happens to be the official start of the Pan American highway. From there, you can drive all the way to Alaska!

Our cruise ended back at Flamenco Marina, which offered spectacular views of Panama City. Our tours of the Panama Canal were completed! Are you impressed with the 8th man-made wonder of the world?

We were!