Transiting the Panama Canal has been on my list for
a long time. It is really one of the
wonders of the modern world. Depending on how you look at its history, it has
taken hundreds of years and thousands of lives to build. There are many documents and opinions on the
canal, so I will not spend any time covering its history. A good short version of this long story can
be read here.
We arrived at the entrance at sunrise and passed
dozens of cargo ships waiting their turn to transit the canal Atlantic locks. Our ship moved to the head of the line for a
simple reason. Cruise ships have
priority because of the higher fees they are willing to pay. There are
complicated fee structures for the cargo ships, but for cruise ships the fees
are based on berths. Occupied berths pay
$115 for each and $92 for each empty berth.
The Coral Princesses transit, this time, was around $235, 000. The largest fee ever paid was over $400,000
by a cruise ship. Somehow we were talked into being part of the filming of the
ship entering the locks from a helicopter. Our assignment was to hold up
letters that helped spell out our ships name for the 100 year anniversary of
the canal. This took a lot longer than we expected, but we did make it into the
ships video of the cruise.
Even though we have been through many locks in
numerous countries over the years, it was still a fantastic experience. In particular, I found the coordinated
operation of the guide tractors impressive. As you can see in the pictures and videos,
there is very little clearance for those ships that are built to be
"Panamax", which means they are the largest ships possible to transit
the locks.
One exciting change that is coming in 2015, is the
opening of a new set of locks that will allow even larger ships to transit the
canal. As we entered the lock area, we
passed by a set of the new lock doors waiting ashore for the canal construction
to be completed at the end of next year.
Despite all the modern technology, I noted that they still use small row
boats to actually go out and checks ship draft marks on some of the vessels.
To complete our Panama Canal experience we next took
a smaller tour boat through the complete canal system including the Pacific
locks, which will be the subject of the next post.
9 comments:
I got a kick out of the bleacher seats so tourists can sit and watch all the vessels transiting the locks.
I was amazed visiting the Mira Flores lock control station that they still use the same mechanical controls that were installed in 1913 when the canal opened. They were talking of finally replacing the system with a computer controlled one.
It's an amazing feat of engineering. We've been through coast-to-coast once, made a partial transit once, and will be making the full transit again in December ... this time from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Despite past experiences going through canals, we never tire of it. I imagine you've read David McCullough's "Path Between the Seas" ... if not, I highly recommend it. Now I'm off to watch the videos.
Wow--on my list as well but I don't think I will get the cowboy on a cruise ship!
We stayed at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort in Panama and visited the locks from there. It was amazing to see the ships transit those locks. It certainly beats going all the way around too.
My parents went through the canal and back. They loved it. Interesting that even here, money talks. If you pay more you get to go first. Too funny!
What an amazing journey! It would be so interesting to see and I really enjoyed seeing your pics. I may have to put that on my bucket list too!
Candy
The Panama Canal is a marvel. What a wonderful treat to take a tour of it. Thanks for all the super photos.
Who is that cute little girl holding up the L...hehe
A lovely series of photos. It makes me want to jump on the cruise ship!
On our list - we see everything in the USA.
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