Tuesday April 20th, transit the Panama Canal. At 5:30am the pilot for the canal boarded our ship to take us through the canal. The process takes about 8 to 10 hours to transit. The weather was again very hot and humid (the canal is 9* north of the equator) and somewhat overcast.The Panama Canal is a 48 mile ship canal that joint the Atlantic (actually the Caribbean Sea) and Pacific Oceans and is a conduit for international maritime trade. Annual traffic has risen from about 100 ships in the canal's early days to 14,702 vessels in 2008.
A ship sailing from New York to San Francisco via the canal travels 5,900 miles, well under half the 14,000 mile route around Cape Horn.
While the Pacific Ocean is west of the isthmus and the Atlantic to the east, the 8-10 hour journey through the canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific is one from Northwest to Southeast. The is a result of the isthmus's curving back on itself in the region of the canal.
The Americans may have built the canal, but the concept, at least publicly stated, can be traced to the early 16th Century, when King Charles of Spain commissioned a survey for a shortcut through the isthmus of Panama to speed ship traffic to and from Peru. While the Spanish shelved that plan, the relatively slim strip of land and its rich location between the Atlantic and Pacific worlds proved too strong a lure. In 1880 the French decided that an all water route between the oceans was the ideal solution, and the idea of a canal was enhanced by the success of the Suez Canal in Egypt. The French under Ferdinand de Lesseps began construction on a sea level (i.e. without locks) on January 1, 1880. The French began work in such a rush with insufficient prior study of geology and hydrology of the region.
Disease, particularly malaria and yellow fever killed about 22,000 workers. In 1893, after a great deal of work, the French scheme was abandoned due to disease and the sheer difficulty of building a sea-level canal, as well as lack of French field experience, such as downpours causing steel equipment to rust.At this time, various interests in the U.S. were also expressing interest in building a canal across the isthmus, with some favoring a route across Nicaragua and others advocating the purchase of the French interests in Panama. Eventually in June 1902, with the help of some yellow journalism, when a phony newspaper story about a volcano eruption (it was dormant) caused U.S. senators to back building a canal across Panama instead of Nicaragua. The U.S. under President Theodore Roosevelt bought out the French equipment and excavations for US$40 million and began work on May 4, 1904. John
Frank Stevens, Chief Engineer argued the case against a sea-level canal like the French had tried to build and convinced Teddy Roosevelt of the necessity of a canal built with locks and dams. The Canal was completed two years ahead of the projected date of June 1, 1916 and was formally opened on August 15, 1914 (also under budget!)
Initially the locks had been designed as 94 feet wide. The U.S. Navy requested a width of88 ft to accommodate Naval ships. Eventually a compromise was made and the locks were constructed to a width of 110ft. Each lock is 1,050 long with the walls ranging in thickness from 49ft at the base to 9.8ft at the top.
In 2006 a third lock lane project was started to create larger locks, thereby allowing bigger ships through. Some of the work on these locks could be seen from the ship. The completion date for this project is 2014.
TOLLS:
The tolls are based on the size and the cargo of the ships. All tolls are to be paid cash ONLY! and in advance. The most expensive toll for canal passage to date was charged on May 16, 2008 to the Disney Magic, which paid US$331,200. The least expensive toll was 36 cents to American adventurer Richard Halliburton who swam the canal in 1928. The average toll is around $54,000.
The Gatun Locks, the largest of the Panama Canal's three sets of governing mechanisms that raise ships some 85 feet above sea level, are most impressive. Gatun Lake, the one-time jungle flooded to facilitate the canal's construction and operation, has since evolved into an entirely new ecosystem, replete with islands, back channels and bays. The surrounding rainforest's harbor thousands of exotic birds, rare monkeys, sloths and iguanas.
It was truly an incredible experience! I have only included a few photos here, as there is not much room for photos. During our transit, we passed the sister ship, Celebrity Infinity heading the opposite direction.
This was our second time through the canal and every bit as exciting as the first time.
For more of our cruise please see below!
Candy and Johnny
