Greetings, Cruise Director Nigel back with you.
On 3 June we once again transited the Panama Canal, this time from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, all in all ten hours through the middle of Central America! As you may remember I do the commentary for our passengers through the canal, and what wonderful weather we had, not one drop of rain fell all day, that was remarkable for the wet season.
It may sound rather odd but I prefer the Pacific to Atlantic transit! You head north throughout the day, and there just seems a certain logic to it.
Today I am going to tell you all about the Panama Canal expansion. At present nearly 50% of the world's ships cannot transit the canal as they are too large do so, these ships are called ‘Post Panamax’, and ships that can go through are known as ‘Panamax’. Arcadia is a ‘Panamax’ ship as it can transit, ‘Ventura’ and ‘Azura’ are ‘Post Panamax’ as they cannot.
The present lock chambers in the canal are 1000 feet long by 110 feet wide, and the canal authorities allow ships through with the maximum dimensions of 965 feet long, 106 feet wide and with a maximum draft of 39.5 feet.
On 22 October 2006 the Panamanian Government held a referendum and the Panamanian population voted yes to an expansion of the canal.
The project includes three main components:
1) Construction of two three-step lock complexes - one on the Atlantic side and one on the Pacific.
2) Construction of access channel to the new locks, and widening and deepening of existing navigational channels.
3) Elevation of Gutun Lake to reach its maximum operational level.
The new lock chambers will be monsters, they will be 1,400 feet long, 180 feet wide and 60 feet deep, and will be able to able to handle vessels 1,200 feet long, 160 feet wide, and up to a 50 feet draft! The ships in the new lock chambers will be assisted by tugs instead of locomotives which are used in the present lock chambers. Ships that can transit the canal after the expansion project is complete will be known at ‘New Panamax’.
You may ask who is building these monster locks, and remember six are being built, three on the Atlantic side and three on the Pacific. A consortium of contractors from Spain, Italy and Panama led by the Belgian company Jan De Nul were awarded the contract to build the new locks.
A two mile long access channel will connect the new Atlantic locks with the existing sea entrance of the canal.
To connect the new Pacific side locks with the existing channel, two new access channels are being built:
1) the north access channel which will connect the new Pacific side locks with Gaillard Cut which will be 3.9 miles long, and
2) the south access channel which will connect the new locks with the existing sea entrance on the Pacific Ocean, and will be 1.1 miles long. These new navigation channels will be at least 715 feet wide.
The cost of the project is a cool US $5.25bn; you may ask who is paying for this? Well it’s being paid for by the tolls ships pay to transit the present canal, and so in their own way our passengers are paying for a part of this expansion project through their cruise fare and the toll Arcadia pays each time we go through!
The expansion will be the largest project on the canal since its original construction. Work began on the project in 2006 and will last up to nine years, the new locks and channels are expected to be ready in 2015.
The project is not affecting normal canal operations and the existing lock chambers will continue to be used when the new locks are ready.
People often ask me how I researched the canal for my commentary; it was from three main sources, two books, ‘The Path between the Seas’ by David McCullough, and ‘Hell’s Gorge’ by Matthew Parker. The Panama Canal also has a superb web site http://www.pancanal.com/.
When the project is complete all our fleet of seven ships will be able to transit it, Ventura and Azura at the present time are too large to go through.
Enjoy the photo gallery today.
The Bridge of the Americas.
Arcadia heads under the ‘Bridge of the Americas’ to start her transit of the canal. The ‘Bridge of the Americas’ was built between 1958 and 1962; it opened on 12 October 1962, has four traffic lanes and a pedestrian walkway. It is 354 feet tall and has a total span of 5,425 ft, with a centre span of 1,128 feet.
Arcadia in Pedro Miguel Locks.
Arcadia in Gutun Locks, it’s a tight squeeze, we had two feet either side of us in the chambers!
Arcadia attached to one of the eight electric locomotives, (mules) that assist us through the lock chambers.
Each locomotive, (electric mule) weighs 55 tons; there were originally 40 of them. The original ones were built by General Electric, each weighed 43 tons and could tow 25,000 pounds at 2 mph, while achieving a maximum return speed of 5 mph, and they cost $13,000. There are 108 of them now, each new one costing $2,300,000. The latest models have a towing speed of 5mph, and return of 10mph. The new locomotives are Japanese and built by Mitsubishi, and have a maximum towing capacity of 70,000 pounds.
The Miraflores Locks Visitors Centre
This is a permanent commitment of the Panama Canal Authority to strengthen the public’s knowledge of the canal. The centre features a theatre, observation terraces, a restaurant gift shop and a hall for special events.
The Pedro Miguel Locks Control Tower
The entire lock operation is controlled from the control tower, which is located on the centre wall of the lock chambers. In the control houses there is a waist high control board working representation of the locks in miniature. Everything that happens in the locks happens on the control board at precisely the same time.
An empty lock chamber at Miraflores Locks
Blasting and dredging equipment
Titan Floating Crane
The giant crane, the Titan, was confiscated at the end of WW2 from Nazi Germany, and taken as a war prize. It was built for the German Navy in 1941 by MAN, and entered service at Bremerhaven. Titan entered service in Panama in 1996 after spending 50 years at Long Beach Naval Shipyard in California where it was moved to in 1948. The Titan was actually one of three built by the Germans. While in long beach the Titan was known as ‘Herman the German’ - the tip of the main boom tower is 374 above water level. The crane is used for maintenance on the canal.
The Gutun Locks visitors viewing platform.
The lines that attach Arcadia are still brought out to us by a rowing boat! Other means have been tried including firing the lines across to the ships and also using a speed boat but they have found that a rowing boat is the most effective method!
All the best.
Nigel
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