Panama. Central America’s “Big Ditch” – A Journey through the Panama Canal
Few consumers appreciate the importance of waterway shortcuts that reduce ocean transit times and product costs. Along with the Suez Canal that links the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean, the Panama Canal is among the most strategic places on Earth. Prior to the Canal’s construction, ships traveling between the Pacific and Atlantic had to navigate around the southernmost tip of South America via the Strait of Magellan or Drake Passage. The canal shortened the journey for cargo ships traveling between Europe and Asia by 3,700 kilometers and by an astounding 15,000 kilometers for ships traveling between the U.S. East and West coasts. I had a basic understanding of the canal’s history and operation before my trip to Panama City. However, I was looking forward to visiting the former Canal Zone to learn more. The Panama Canal is an 82-kilometer artificial channel cut through the Isthmus of Panama that connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The cut-off is located at nine degrees north latitude and at a place where the mountainous continental divide dips to its lowest elevation. From Pamana City on the Pacific side, the canal extends northeast to the City of Colón on the Atlantic side. About 40 ships pass through the canal each day with transit times averaging eleven hours. The concept for a passageway across the Isthmus extends back to at least 1534, when Spanish King Charles V commissioned a survey to explore potential routes between the oceans. In 1826, discussions were initiated between the U.S. and Gran Columbia (present-day Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Columbia) to build a canal connecting the Pacific and Atlantic. Fearing U.S. domination, Gran Columbia declined to participate in the project. In 1881, the French began work on a sea-level canal through the Isthmus that would be similar to the Suez Canal. However, in contrast to the dry climate and relatively level topography faced by the French and Egyptians, canal builders in Central America had to deal with steep mountain terrain and rains that created frequent landslides. At the same time, snake bites and yellow fever led to a deathrate among canal workers exceeding 200 persons in some months. With more than US$287 million invested, the project ran into financial trouble and was abandoned. Meanwhile, with U.S. assistance, Panamanians rebelled against Gran Columbia and formed an independent country. Soon after, the new nation of Panama approved the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, granting the U.S. rights to build and administer a canal in exchange for US$10 million and $250,000 per year.
In contrast to the French plan that called for cutting an ocean-level pathway, American engineers proposed a reservoir in the center of the Isthmus with artificial channels connected to each ocean. Positioned 26 meters above sea level, the reservoir/lake would supply water needed by a system of locks for raising and lowering ships. For example, a ship would travel through an artificial channel to locks that would raise it to the lake’s level. After crossing, a second set of locks would return the ship to sea level. The ingenious design did not require pumps since gravity would transport water into lock chambers. Construction began in 1904 with the project being completed in 1914 at a cost of US$500 million (the equivalent of US$15.5 billion in 2024). More than 13 million square meters of material was removed beyond 23 million previously excavated by the French. American crews used 102 railroad-mounted steam shovels to dig artificial channels. Elsewhere, engineers dammed the Charges River to create the reservoir, known as Gatun Lake. After WWII, relations between the U.S. and Panama became strained leading to protests over U.S. control of the canal. In 1977, the Torrijos-Carter Treaty between Panama and the U.S., transferred control of the canal to the government of Panama. It is presently managed by the Panama Canal Authority.
My canal tour began when I was picked up at my hotel for the 25-minute drive to the Terminal de Cruceros de Amador. Our tour boat had an enclosed lower deck and a covered upper deck with seats facing to each side. After getting underway, we passed the Port of Balboa and continued motoring northeast towards the Miraflores Locks. Moored around the channel’s entrance were a few dozen large ships waiting to pass through the canal. Our boat came within a few hundred meters of the Liberian-flagged container ship, MSC Emma. When fully loaded the Emma can carry 6,018 six-meter-long containers in its hold and an additional 7,074 containers on its deck.
The channel became narrower as we passed under the Bridge of the Americas. Completed in 1962 at a cost of US$20 million, the bridge is part of the Pan American Highway which extends from the southern tip of South America to Alaska. Our boat began to decelerate as we approached the locks at Miraflores. The locks are paired so that north and southbound ships can pass without interfering with each other. Having two sets of locks also provides redundancy in the event that a lock experiences a maintenance problem. The Miraflores locks are 33.53 meters wide by 320 meters long and can accommodate ships up to 305 meters in length. With thick walls, the lock chambers hold 101,000 square meters of water. It takes about 10 minutes for water to fill a lock’s chamber. Each chamber gate is two meters thick and 19.5 to 33.5 meters high. For added protection, there are two V-shaped gates on each side of a chamber. Ships move into a chamber using their own power or with help from an electric locomotive called a mula (“mule”) that rides on track parallel to the canal. Each ship passing through the canal is responsible for 200 million liters of fresh water flowing from Gatun Lake into either the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean. To some extent, rainfall received by the Charges River and Gatun Lake is the determining factor in the number of ships that can pass through the canal. Generally speaking, fewer ships are allowed to transit during drought conditions.
Berge Phan Xi Pang 16.5 meters. Continuing, we entered a second set of locks at Pedro Miguel that carried us additional 9.5 meters upward. Exiting from this lock we passed through an artificial channel called the Culebra Cut that is at the same elevation as Gatun Lake. My tour was northbound only so I disembarked at Gamboa and returned to Panama City by bus. Today, the largest number of ships that pass through the Panama Canal are U.S. flagged, followed by ships from China, Chile, Japan, Columbia, and South Korea. Each ship pays a toll set by the Panama Canal Authority based on its cargo and number of passengers. The average toll is about US$54,000 but tolls for the largest ships can exceed US$400,000. In 2017, work was completed on wider locks that enable even larger ships to pass through the canal.
A few days after my tour I arranged for a car to take me to the Miraflores Overlook. For those without the time to arrange for a boat journey through the canal, the overlook provides an opportunity to observe ships passing through the locks. On another day I visited the Panama Canal Museum in Old Panama City. This was followed by a driving tour of the Canal Zone. The Canal Zone was an eight-kilometer buffer on each side of the canal that was controlled by the U.S. government from 1904 until 1977. My tour included stops at barracks that were part of the former U.S. Army facility at Fort Kobbe. We also paused briefly at the former Howard U.S. Air Force Base, now Panama Pacifico Airport.
