THE PANAMA CANAL 

>>>> The panama canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It’s a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The Panama Canal is within Panama – that is, the country of Panama is on each side. The length of canal is 82 kilometer (51 mile).  It serves as a vital link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, enabling ships to avoid the lengthy and hazardous voyage around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America. 

 An average depth of Panama is 13 m (43 ft) through the Gaillard (Culebra) Cut.

The Panama Canal’s death toll is about 30,000, making it the construction project with the highest documented fatality rate in the world.

>>>The Panama Canal Officially opened on August 15, 1914. The Panama Canal uses a system of locks to lift ships 26 meters (85 feet) above sea level to the artificial Gatun Lake and then lower them back down. Gatun Lake, created by damming the Chagres River, serves as a critical part of the canal, providing the water needed for its lock operations. Built and once controlled by the U.S., the canal is now owned by Panama, which charges fees for passage. Freshwater from the basin’s rivers was used to fill the locks, as seawater would have been costly to pump, and the salt content could have damaged the sluice gate mechanisms and affected the aquifers. One of the world’s largest artificial lakes, Gatun, was constructed to accomplish this.

The Panama Canal is managed by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), a Panamanian government agency, since December 31, 1999. 

The first ship to officially transit the canal was the SS Ancon on August 15, 1914.

Ships save an average of 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 kilometers) by using the canal instead of traveling around South America via the Cape Horn.

In 1914, the year it opened, about 1000 ships used the canal. Today, nearly 15,000 ships pass through the Isthmus of Panama via the Canal annually. The 1 Millionth ship crossed the canal in 2010, 96 years after it opened.

The American Society of Civil Engineers has also dubbed the Panama Canal one of the 7 Wonders of the Modern World. It’s one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken.

>>>The Panama Canal revolutionized global trade by cutting the maritime distance between New York and San Francisco by approximately 13,000 kilometers (8,000 miles). Today, more than 14,000 vessels transit the canal annually, carrying everything from consumer goods to raw materials. The Panama Canal Authority continues to invest in sustainability to ensure the canal’s longevity and relevance. The Panama Canal was expanded for bigger ships in 2016.

The canal produce billions of dollars in revenue for Panama, making it a key contributor to the national economy. $2 Billion in Tolls are Collected Annually.

Panama is 40 miles long from shoreline to shoreline.

The charge for each transit was based upon the interior cargo or passenger-carrying capacity of a vessel. The woman swimmer, who to this day is the only woman to swim any part of the Canal, was Elaine May Golding. She was billed in the local press as the “champion lady swimmer of America.”

>>> The Panama Canal remains a testament to human determination and imagination, transforming global trade and geopolitics since its inception. As it adapts to modern challenges, this iconic waterway continues to represent the power of engineering to shape the world’s economy and connect nations.