The Panama Canal

Jan. 8, 2023

Now we have left Porto Limon and entered the eastern end of the Panama Canal.

The Panama Canal, Spanish Canal de Panamá, is a lock-type canal, owned and administered by the Republic of Panama, that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the narrow Isthmus of Panama. The length of the Panama Canal from shoreline to shoreline is about 40 miles (65 km) and from deep water in the Atlantic (more specifically, the Caribbean Sea) to deep water in the Pacific about 50 miles (82 km). 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, which otherwise would 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.

From its opening in 1914 until 1979, the 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, and complete control passed to Panama at noon on December 31, 1999. Administration of the canal is the responsibility of the Panama Canal Authority (Spanish: Autoridad del Canal de Panamá [ACP]), which answers solely to the government of Panama.

In passing from the Atlantic to the Pacific, we entered the approach channel in Limón Bay, which extends a distance of about 7 miles to the Gatún Locks. At Gatún a series of three locks lifts vessels 85 feet to Gatún Lake. The lake, formed by Gatún Dam on the Chagres River and supplemented by waters from Alajuela Lake (Lake Madden; formed by the Madden Dam), covers an area of 166 square miles. The channel through the lake varies in depth from 46 to 85 feet and extends for about 23 miles to Gamboa. Gaillard (Culebra) Cut begins at Gamboa and passes through the Continental Divide. The channel through the cut has an average depth of about 43 feet and extends some 8 miles to the Pedro Miguel Locks. The locks lower vessels 30 feet to Miraflores Lake, at an elevation of 52 feet above sea level. Vessels then pass through a channel almost 1.2 miles long to the two-stepped locks at Miraflores, where they are lowered to sea level. The final segment of the canal is a dredged approach passage 7 miles long through which ships pass into the Pacific. Throughout its length the canal has a minimum bottom width of 500 feet; in Gatún Lake the width of the channel varies between 500 and 1,000 feet, and in Miraflores Lake the width is 740 feet.

The canal locks operate by gravity flow of water from Gatún, Alajuela, and Miraflores lakes, which are fed by the Chagres and other rivers. The locks themselves are of uniform length, width, and depth and were built in pairs to permit the simultaneous transit of vessels in either direction. Each lock gate has two leaves, 65 feet wide and 6.5 feet thick, set on hinges. The gates range in height from 46 to 82 feet; their movement is powered by electric motors recessed in the lock walls. They are operated from a control tower, which is located on the wall that separates each pair of locks and from which the flooding or emptying of the lock chambers is also controlled. The lock chambers are 1,000 feet long, 110 feet wide, and 40 feet deep.

Our sister ship, The Volandam:

Ships are taken through the canal by one or more pilots, who board each ship before it leaves the terminus. With waiting time, ships may require about 25 hours to negotiate the canal. 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. When Gaillard (Culebra) Cut is not being dredged, canal traffic generally proceeds in both directions. The heavy rainfall of Panama makes operation feasible despite the irrevocable loss of large quantities of water with each transit. To conserve water, two or more vessels moving in the same direction are passed through together when their sizes permit.

Three bridges cross the canal at the locks. Here is a photo of the Centennial Bridge. The Centennial Bridge is located (9.3 mi) north of the Bridge of the Americas and crosses the Culebra Cut (Gaillard Cut) close to the Pedro Miguel locks.

On the Pacific side a causeway extends from Balboa to three small islands (Naos, Perico, and Flamenco) and diverts crosscurrents that carry soft material from the shallow harbor of Panama City into the canal channel.