TO VIEW PREVIOUS POSTINGS USE THE "BLOG ARCHIVE" UNDER OUR PHOTO ON THE RIGHT. THEN CLICK ON THE DAY OR DAYS YOU MISSED. ALSO CLICKING ON THE PHOTOS WILL ENLARGE THEM. I RECOMMEND THAT.
THE PANAMA CANAL
Today is the 11th time we will have passed through the Canal. Transiting the Canal is
the highlight of those cruises I never get tired of learning something new about
it. Since we have cruised so much a common question to us is: “What is your
favorite cruise?”. That is impossible to answer but for cruises close by the US, we
would definitely recommend you see Alaska and the Panama Canal. Today's post is dedicated specifically to the Canal.
Background/History:
The French began construction of the Canal in 1881 but by 1889 the French company
was bankrupt and over 22,000 workers had lost their lives due to yellow fever (from
mosquitoes) and accidents. Back then Panama was a province of Columbia but in
1903 US warships blocked the sea lanes so Columbia could not put down a
rebellion. On November 3, 1903, Panama declared its independence from
Columbia. The United States began construction on the Canal in 1904 and the Canal
opened on August 15, 1914. The US controlled and provided the defense of the
Panama Canal Zone until 1977 when a gradual hand over to the Panama Canal
Authority was completed in 1999. We can thank then President Jimmy Carter for
that mistake. So today the Panama government owns and operates the Canal. The
Canal employs a work force of 9,000 and operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a
year. Contrary to what you may think, the Canal runs north/south, NOT east/west!!
Our transit will begin after passing under “The Bridge of the Americas” which is
on Highway 1 which connects the north and south American land masses. It was
completed in 1962 at the cost of only $20 million. The port of Balboa will be on our
starboard (right) side after passing under the bridge and we will be able to see
Panama City in the distance, weather permitting. Basically what happens during our
50 mile transit of the Canal is our ship will be raised 85 feet to the level of Gatun
Lake then lowered 85 feet back down to sea level again. This raising and lowering is
done by a “lock” system. The first set of two locks will be the “Miraflores
Locks“. They will raise us to Miraflores Lake. One mile later we will approach the
single lock called the “Pedro Migel Lock”. These 3 locks will have raised us the 85
feet needed to sail across Gatun Lake. On the Atlantic side there is another set of 3
locks called the “Gatun Locks” which will lower us the 85 feet back to sea level.
After passing through the Pedro Migel locks the engineers who built the Canal
had to make an 8 mile cut (excavation) through the Continental Divide. It was called
the Gaillard Cut until 2000 and is now called the Culebra Cut when the Canal was
handed over to Panama. The construction of this cut was one of the great
engineering feats of its time. Many lives were lost. Over 100 million cubic yards
were excavated to lower the summit of the mountain ridge some 150 feet.
So let me talk about the locks. Each lock chamber of the original Canal is 110
feet wide and 1050 feet long. These will accommodate Panamax size ships but not
our aircraft carriers or Super Tankers. Because of this a new set of locks were built
and opened in 2016. The new lock chambers are 180 feet wide and 1400 feet long
but our aircraft carriers will still not fit in the chambers. The engineering concept of
the Canal is very simplistic but requires a LOT of water. With the older lock system
each time the bottom lock is opened 26 million gallons of water goes out into the
ocean from the lakes above. So for one ship to transit, it requires 52 million gallons
of lake water. What makes this all work is the amount of rainfall Panama receives to
keep the lakes full. The new locks, however, were designed so this water is recycled
and most of it is not lost.
Cruise ships have priority going through the Canal. Others are anchored on both
the Pacific and Atlantic side awaiting their turn to transit and may have to wait for
days. Cruise ships have traditionally been limited in size so they will fit in the
locks. The large cruise ships fill the locks with just about a foot on each side. Our
ship is not nearly that large. Small boats (sail boats) can also use the canal and share
a lock with another ship. By the way it is expensive to transit the Canal. Company’s
pay by the weight of the ship. It is costing Regent $250,000 for our transit
today. Payment is by cash only and has to be wired to Panama BEFORE allowed to
transit. Panama makes around $2 billion per year from the Canal.
PHOTO LINK:
Here is the link to canal transit photos. I think this is easier way and best way for you to view the photos. In the upper right corner there should be descriptions of each photo. If no descriptions there then clicking on the "circled i" in upper right corner will reveal them. Just click on the first photo and then arrow (on right side of the photo if you drag your cursor over it) through the rest. Yes, these were taken during our 2019 transit but still apply and I thought them good to repost for you. You will have to cut and paste this link below to your browser. Just highlight the link. Hold down the Ctrl key and hit C. This will copy it. Then open another browser at top and hold down the CTRL key again and hit the V key. This should copy it to the browser window. Then hit Enter.
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipOIkQ_DZEHkD34JcGQrPaHRvyRu86zxSwRtTfGC
I have now been advised you will need a Google account to view the photo album. Sorry.
