31/05/2026
PANAMA CANAL
The Panama Canal is one of the world’s most important engineering achievements, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through a 51-mile waterway across the Isthmus of Panama. Completed in 1914 after more than a decade of construction, the canal eliminated the need for ships to navigate around the southern tip of South America, reducing travel time by approximately 8,000 miles. This breakthrough significantly transformed global maritime trade and commerce.
The canal operates through an ingenious system of locks that raise and lower ships across the landscape’s elevation changes. Water from Gatun Lake fills these locks, allowing vessels to traverse the canal safely. The engineering marvel required the excavation of millions of tons of earth and rock, and it cost the lives of approximately 5,600 workers during its construction. The project was initially championed by the United States, which funded and oversaw its development.
Today, the Panama Canal remains strategically vital to international trade, with approximately 14,000 vessels passing through annually. The canal handles roughly 6% of global maritime commerce and generates substantial revenue for Panama. Ownership transferred to Panama in 1999, and the nation continues to invest in modernization projects, including expanded locks completed in 2016, to accommodate increasingly larger container ships and maintain the waterway’s relevance in contemporary global trade.
The Panama Canal locks are a lock system that lifts ships up 85 feet (26 metres) to the main elevation of the Panama Canal and lowers them down again. The original canal had a total of six steps (three up, three down) for a ship’s passage. The total length of the lock structures, including the approach walls, is over 1.9 miles (3 km). The locks were one of the greatest engineering works ever to be undertaken when they opened in 1914. No other concrete construction of comparable size was undertaken until the Hoover Dam, in the 1930s.
There are two independent transit lanes, since each lock is built double. The size of the original locks limits the maximum size of ships that can transit the canal; this size is known as Panamax. Construction on the Panama Canal expansion project, which included a third set of locks, began in September 2007, finished by May 2016 and began commercial operation on June 26, 2016. The new locks allow transit of larger, New Panamax ships, which have a greater cargo capacity than the previous locks were capable of handling.
Our transit through the Panama Canal from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean was to be the highlight of our cruise … and it did not disappoint. We left Panama City very early morning and sailed round to the entrance to the Panama Canal to meet our scheduled transit booked. As we sailed under the bridge, Mirador de las Américas or Bridge of the Americas, marking the entrance to the Panama Canal we saw our last sight of the tall city buildings of Panama City and got ready to enter the Miraflores Locks on the Pacific side. In the Miraflores locks, vessels are lifted (or lowered) 54 feet (16.5 m) in two stages, allowing them to transit to or from the Pacific Ocean port of Balboa in Panama City. Ships cross below the Bridge of the Americas, which connects North and South America. It was fascinating to watch the small tugs or mules guide our ship through the narrow locks, with only about 18 inches on either side of our ship. The Panama Canal “mules” are specialised electric locomotives that run on tracks along the lock walls. They are vital for safety, steering, and braking, ensuring massive ships don’t scrape the narrow walls. Contrary to popular belief, the ships actually use their own power to move forward
After traversing the 3 locks at Miraflores our ship passed under the Centennial Bridge and headed into the Gatun Lake which offered wonderful views of the tropical forest on either side. At the far side of the lake we then entered the Gatun locks and passed through 3 separate locks to enter into the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal. We passed under the Puente Atlántico or Atlantic Bridge at Colón and then out to sea on our way to our next port of call of Cartagena in Columbia.
Our back-to-back cruise on Holland America’s ms Zuiderdam started in San Diego, cruised many ports in Mexico then stopped in Guatemala, Panama City, transited the Panama Canal, to Cartagena, …
