Panama Canal Update

Panama Canal, Panama Sunday January 11, 2015

After San Blas Island, we travelled next to the entrance of the Panama Canal. It is an artificial waterway (lock-type canal) around 82 km that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the wonders of the modern world!

It was built for ships to be able to pass between the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean. This way, shippers can transport their cargo faster. The canal which was completed in August 1914, is one of the two most strategic artificial waterways in the world, the other being the Suez Canal.

Ships sailing between the east and west coasts of the United States of America which otherwise be obliged to round Cape Horn in South America shorten their voyage by about 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km) by using the canal. Savings of up to 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km) are also made on voyages between one coast of North America and ports on the other side of South America. Ships sailing between Europe and East Asia or Australia can save as much as 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km) by using the canal.

Now ships can carry commercial goods to their destinations without traveling for months. It also saves money because they will use less fuel

The 1st firm effort to build an all-water route through Panama began with the French in 1880, but financial problems and tropical diseases ruined the initiative. When Panama consolidated its independence in 1903, it agreed with the US on the construction of the Canal and that the US would administer the canal till Dec 31, 1999.

The construction of the canal was completed in 1914, 401 years after Panama was first crossed by Vasco Nunez de Balboa.

The United States spent almost $500,000,000 (roughly equivalent to $9,169,650,000 now) to finish the project. This was by far the largest American engineering project to date. Even so, about 5,600 workers died of disease and accidents during the US construction phase of the canal.

From its opening in 1914 until 1979, Panama Canal was controlled solely by the United States which built it. In 1979, however, control of the canal passed to the Panama Canal commission, a joint agency of the United States and the Republic of Panama. Complete control passed to Panama on December 31, 1999.

Ships are taken through the canal by one or more pilots who board each ship before it leaves the teminus. The average transit time, once a vessel has been authorized to proceed is about 10 hours from one end of the canal to the other. To conserve water, two or more ships moving in the same direction are passed through together when their size permits. Each ship is also boarded by measurers to verify its carrying capacity and to collect tolls. Transits are scheduled and monitored at points along the route by automated marine traffic control system.

I knew there's something more to Panama than just the canal or being the bridge between continents Panama 51 miles sea to sea at its midpoint, is set to open its third canal designed for massive 13,000 container cargo ships. It is just one example of how Panama has improved its services that might overwhelm it. On all counts the country's transformation over the past century is revolutionary.

The Biomuseo or Museum of Biodiversity designed by American architect Frank Gehry opened with a twist. Opened in October 2014, the museum is located at the end of the Amador Causeway in Panama City, facing the Pacific Ocean at the entrance of the Panama Canal Inside, the exhibits tells the story of continents colliding and mountains rising, leaving Panama with 12 distinct ecosystem and wild lands comparable to its more touristed neighbor Costa Rica.