Transiting The Panama Canal (West to East )
The canal, located at the narrowest point of the Western Hemisphere landmass, the Isthmus of Panama, effectively reduced ship travel time from the Atlantic to the Pacific by about 5 months and travel distance by some 8,000 miles.
December 30, 2013
Panama Canal
“The Captain is killing us!”exclaimed one woman inside the elevator. “After feeding us last Christmas, he's sending us port to port, back to back, with no rest in between,” she continued.
"And you love every minute of it,” a man chided.
We all laughed and stepped out of the elevator and walked toward the gangway.
That was two days ago, when we had three back to back days of shore excursions, after Christmas. Today is what I should call a semi-relaxed day until we were awakened by the guides voice on the loud speakers at 6:00 am. His name is Charles McClellan. Holland America had hired him as a guest lecturer. He is a Panamanian American. Yesterday when his lecture was about the construction of the 80 kilo-meter Panama Canal; it was standing room only at the Queens Lounge.
He started talking about the complex geographic challenge and the greatest engineering challenge that overwhelmed the French, and then the Americans bought, and took over the construction. Apart from the geographical challenges, there were a lot of insects and reptiles in the jungles, and workers were dying from malaria and yellow fever. Approximately 25,000 people died during the early construction period. It is equivalent to five hundred lives sacrificed for every mile of the canal.
“In 1896, the French sold all of the equipment and construction to the United States government for US$40,000,000, “ Charles stated.“On November 18, 1903, Panama signed the Hay-Bunau-Varila treaty granting the USA the right to build, and hold the concession in perpetuity. In 1913, the steam shovels from East and West met, completing the Canal. Ships navigated the Gaillard cut for the first time. The SS Ancon was the first ship to transit the canal,” Charles continued.
“The Gatun locks are 110' feet wide and 1,050 long. Each gates is 65' wide and 7' thick. They are buoyant and float in the water. It takes 8 minutes to raise the ship to 28.3 feet. Electric Mule Trains are being used to this date. They are locomotive workhorses of the canal to keep the ships perfectly centered. Each mule now costs US$2 million and they are now manufactured by Mitsubishi,” he remarked. The 1st mules were made by GE and cost US$300,000.
As for the transit fee, Holland America is paying US$134.00 per occupied berth and US$108.00 per unoccupied berth for all crew and passengers. For this cruise, it will be US$350.000 for the transit fee. There is always a line up, and if cruise and shipping line companies want to get ahead to the front of the line, then they must pay a higher fee. Also, ships go both directions for 24 hours a day.
“It was in late 1970`s when President Jimmy Carter gave the Panama Canal away, and Panama took over,”Charles remarked without elaborating why.
From the Pacific Ocean our ship went through a series of locks. At 6:30 am. our ship entered the Miraflores lock, thereafter at the Pedro Miguel, and Culebra Cut. Soon on our port (left) side,we were within speaking distance of the container ship Morning Celesta from Singapore. Some of the crew said their hello's and goodbye's to us. It was amazing how our ship was just a mere foot and half from the sides of the canal while guided by the electric mules. In the mid-afternoon, it was the Sun Lucia freighter on our Starboard (right) side.
At the bow and around the locks, there were lot s of birds, especially pelicans, circling around all the time. Meanwhile, from the promenade of the ship, we could see primeval forest on the left and right sides of the canal. One can only imagine how the surrounding shores had even thicker impenetrable jungle 99 years ago. Yes, next year will be the 100 year anniversary of the Panama canal.
From Gaillard cut, the ship entered the Gatun locks, which to us, was the most amazing phase of the ships transit. At the Gatun locks, there are a series of gates. One can see the water rising as in elevators and it raises the ships from sea level to the level of Gatun Lake, 26 meters above sea level. Then the locks opened, and with the mules guiding, the ship slowly inched a head, now lowered to sea level.
The water (52 million gallons) used to raise the vessels in each set of locks is obtained from Gatun Lake by gravity and poured into the locks through the main culvert system that extends under the locks chamber from the sidewalls and the center walls.
We could see the ever diminishing outlines of the canal gates now finally folding at the sides. The steel cables attached to the mules were released. It was now 3.57 pm, and our ship was finally at sea level, and headed to Limon Bay on the Caribbean Sea Side, which is the Atlantic side of the canal. After a long day transiting the Panama canal from the Pacific ocean, the sun started to fade below the far horizon. As we stood by the ships railing, Bert pointed to the brand new lock gates from Italy. They were just delivered for the expansion project which will add a third lane of traffic, allowing much larger ships with more cargo capacity. This time, I'm sure it is not going to take that long to finish, another engineering feat!!
Overall this was a fantastic experience!
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE PANAMA CANAL
During the canal construction, over 200 million cubic meters of material was removed. Were this material to be placed on rail road flatcars, it would circle the globe four times.
The canal uses 52 million gallons of water for every ship to be elevated. Enough water to serve Memphis, TN.
Since its opening in 1914, more than 1 million ships from all over the world, have transited the canal.
Comments
Thank you for refreshing us the P. Canal history. It was quite an experience to witness this man-made water way from Pacific to Atlantic Ocean. From Kim L., on Jan 5, 2014 at 05:48 a.m.
Wow Charlotte...thanks for all the info about the Canal......I knew very little about it till now!! Happy, healthy, safe trip!! From Marcelle, on Jan 9, 2014 at 04:47 a.m.
Hi Charlotte, it looks like so far you are having a grand time......thanks for all that information about the Canal which I remembered from learning in school and you refreshed my memory. Hope the next phase of your world trip is as much fun as the first part. Please say hello to Bert. Til we meet again. From Nina Douglas, on Jan 9, 2014 at 10:42 p.m