Trip Through The Panama Canal

nivrip

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So, I’ve been through the Panama Canal a couple of weeks ago. It’s something I’ve always fancied doing so Kathy said “Come on we’ll do it”. Briefly, if anyone's remotely interested, here's the story.
We flew to San Diego in California and then picked up the Holland America Line ship Veendam. Stop offs in a couple of places in Mexico, one in Guatemala, one in Nicaragua, one in Costa Rica and then into the Canal.
Work began on the canal in 1881 by the French, but had to stop in 1894 because of engineering problems and high mortality due to disease, particularly Yellow Fever and Malaria. There were 22,000 deaths. Panama at this time was part of Colombia and it was only after Panama became independent in 1903 that the USA negotiated a treaty to restart the work. The US was very keen because it was a way to get their warships from one side of the country to the other without having to go round South America.

The Canal was completed on 15 August, 1914 and by September, 2010 the one millionth ship had gone through. There are three sets of locks in two channels taking vessels up to the artificially created Gatun Lake, at 85 feet above sea level, and three to take them back down.

It’s 80 Km (50 miles) from Pacific to Atlantic and took about 12 hours. The ship we were on had only a couple of feet to spare on either side.

Passenger ships pay $115 per occupied berth so the Veendam will have paid about $150,000 to get through. Cargo ship fees are very complex but the most ever paid was $375,000.

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Exit from the first set of locks into Miraflores Lake (man made).

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Exit from Miraflores Lake towards the Culebra Cut.


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This is part of The Cut. You can see where the rock has been blasted away in steps. This is the canal’s narrowest part. It is 12.7km long and this was the segment that had to be excavated through the rock and limestone of the Continental Divide. This bit was like a river cruise.


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The Cut leads into Gatun Lake, also mainly man made, which is about 24km across. This is where ships wait to carry on.


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In the final set of locks with a cargo ship in the adjacent lock.



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The final stretch. The ship beyond the locks is now back down at sea level.



A whole new set of locks is being constructed parallel to the existing locks but using the existing man made lakes. These new locks will be wider and will allow larger ships to go through,
A new canal is now on the cards to go through Nicaragua.

It was very, very interesting. :)
 

Ian

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Fascinating @nivrip!

How long did it take to get through, with all of the locks?

There were 22,000 deaths

Facts like that make me feel lucky to be born in the 20th century in the UK, rather than 100 years earlier. :eek:
 

nivrip

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How long did it take to get through, with all of the locks?



:eek:

About 12 hours all told. The cruise ships go through in daylight hours so that the passengers can see what's happening. A lot of the cargo ships go through at night when it is slightly cheaper. It's a non-stop operation. :)
 

Taffycat

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Wow Niv, what a fantastic trip, you always seem to visit some very interesting places, lucky fellow! They are super pics, you certainly had a great vantage point (...I trust you were not dangling from the crows nest, because you seem to be awfully high up!) Wonderful.

It really is amazing to think that waterway is all manmade it's a tremendous feat of engineering - although some of the poor souls who built it certainly paid a very high price in terms of lives lost.
 

crazylegs

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Fantastic trip Niv and great pics!
Makes you glad to be alive to be able to see all these wonders of the world..:bow:
 

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