Natural gas storage here is a big new industry. That seems to be the going thing in the area of supply storage. Petroleum storage here is not a big commodity.
We have two to three special pilots. When this process started back in 1880 ships like our size were never even imagined!! The small river to our right is the French river named after their efforts to build a canal. It actually is five miles long but goes nowhere.
New locks afford bigger ships called neo ships. We are a Panamax ship. . 1400 ft long 180 feet wide 60 ft deep. New locks are more simplified and gates slide into the wall which makes them easier to repair and maintain. All the gates are hydraulic.
The old ones which we pass through are all electrical at 110 ft wide and 45 ft deep. They are swinging gates which are more v shaped. They are more complicated to maintain and repair. They take doors to dry dock to repair.
Old locks are under control with electrical mules or locomotives and we use the maximum of 8. The new ones only use tugs.
We are transiting of course from east to west and our room is on the east side so we are getting the full impact of the sun as we view up close from our balcony. Our last time through in 2016 we were on the Island Princess and our room was on the west side so for the early part of the trip we were in shade.
The American crocodile have been sighted many times on our side and are very aggressive. No crocodiles have been seen yet but they have seen up to 7 and one even crossed the bow of the ship !! Of course having Dan beside me he immediately spots an alligator laying partially out of the water on the bank directly in front of us and then another! We saw four Mongoose on the banks devouring something in the grasses. Present were many Great Blue Heron, a multitude of Brown Pelicans, Black Crowned Night Heron, Black Vultures, parakeets, Frigate birds, the Bananaquit and the Nanday Parakeet and MORE gators! We creep along at a speed equal to docking at a port. Several tugs are surrounding us just in case. As we get closer to the first entrance you would think we had stopped if you didn’t look at the shore to mark our movement.
After days of searching my backup drive, Google photos and both our computers along with iCloud I could never find any of my 2016 photos from our west to east transit on Princess. So this time I’m taking plenty of photos and documenting!! Ha ha
Our lock uses 52 million gallons of water per transit where the new ones use 60.
The first locomotives used GE motors and this put GE on the map. They were good but designed for typically smaller ships. In the 50’s and 60’s ships got bigger and GE participated in the bid but Mitsubishi beat everyone on the upgrades. The new locks bid was awarded to Mitsubishi and Kawasaki jointly.
The sun and heat produced by the motors takes a toll on them and requires constant maintenance.
The biggest gate weighs 730 tons and is as high as an 8 story building ; they fit tightly made out of metal with no leakage. The hinge pin is two feet long and 25 inches in diameter.
The gate alarm goes off and we begin to enter the first lock. The locks used to work only during daylight hours but in the 1960’s 1000 watt lights were installed for continual use. The shoreline up to the locks is groomed and manicured. It’s all reinforced of course with volcanic rock and sometimes cement walls and barriers.
Every old lock has a bridge that runs over. Traffic lines up now because there is no way to cross once ships enter a lock.
Both oceans are on zero level. In reality once the gigantic gates close the water ahead of us in the next locks flows in. It’s very hot on the balcony and a bit boring so we make our way inside where we can watch the front camera on our ship in some air conditioning and see the water level rise. They allowed passengers access to the front now ONLY for the transit and they have portable tents set up for some drinks. We haven’t been down there but they say they are asking passengers to rotate in and out.
They say most of the water in the locks is fresh. Ships sink more in fresh than salt water. Our ship is not a heavy draft ship like bulkers and containers and they closely monitor that draft. There are some special conditions for heavier draft ships. A few times they have had to turn them out of the locks and it’s incredibly expensive if this happens.
They remind us that because we are so close to the equator we need to protect ourselves from the sun with hats, hence the sale of Panama Hats, sunscreen and hydration. At 8:12 we have been lifted to the next level and we proceed to the next lock. Each lock has its own control tower with a miniature working replica in place that moves in synchronization with what’s happening inside the lock in the tower office. They have controls at each lock where one switch will not work until the procedure previously was performed as expected. There is redundancy at many levels for safety. Because there is a great possibility of flooding they put in double gates in the front of Gatun Lake. The word Panama in a native language of which there were 13 different tribes meant abundance of fish with 170 different species here!!!! There are the best boats and crews here available with guaranteed catches!!
At 8:32 we proceed to our last lock while a large tanker is coming in our sister channel going west to east. We had an excellent narrator on our Princess Ship that stayed with us the entire cruise but I will say this fellow is excellent too and we have learned other interesting facts. The Princess ship had many guest speakers during our sailing and movies about the building of the canal but Norwegian hasn’t offered any of this which is disappointing.
At 8:57 we are at the max of 85 ft in our lock and we now transit into the lake as we passed a tanker across from us from Majuro. Their small friendly crew was going the opposite way and waved enthusiastically to the passengers.
Gamboa is the mid point for the lake and we will slowly proceed to that arriving around 12:30. They tell us the jaguars are in this area and are endangered. The lake is quiet and serene. There is zero construction around the lake and the forest to attract rainfall to be able to operate the canal. Without rain the canal would soon dry up. There is talk of an additional set of locks that would be even bigger!!!
Three auto carriers are ready to enter the locks in the new channels. A lot of the transporters in the new canal are carrying natural gas. A normal Panamax can carry 5000 containers. Newer ships can carry around 13000 to the new locks. The canal produces 450 megawatts of electricity and they sell about 85 million dollars of power per year.
At 9:09 we are through all locks and moving to the lake. At 10:30 our commentator presented a question and answer session in the Bliss Lounge which is a smaller intimate venue where they have some game shows and smaller bands playing at night. His name was Ed Paul. The room was packed to overflowing! He shared that this is the fastest growing economy according to CNN. (The Central America area)
He showed us photos of the canal area millions of years ago. I thought the canal ran east to west but it is north to south. Vast changes occurred over millions of years ago due to the emergence of Panama. The world was very different with wet lush areas becoming dry and desert like. Columbus named many bays and mountains when he made his four trips to the area. He was more amicable than most conquistadors and was certain he had found India! Balboa came in 1513 wearing fifty pounds of armour trudging through humidity and forest reaching the Pacific which he called the South Sea and he claimed it and every piece of land it touched for Spain. In 1517 his father in law had him decapitated because he hated him! Panama City became the richest city in the world with the first spiral staircase in the cathedral.
Then came Pizarro who headed south and came upon the Inca Empire. He basically wiped out the Incas. The leader pled for his life giving him all their gold but Pizarro killed him anyway. Years later his own men killed him.
King Charles in 1513 wanted to build a canal but his explorers said no way. There were several trails such the Camino Real and Las Cruces Trail out of Panama City and Old Panama.
The Golden Alter that was built here still exists from the 1600’s!! Many explorers and pirates invaded and tried to take over. Morgan sacked and burned the city. From 1492-1821 the Spanish ruled. When they surrendered and left the area it was to Bolivar. He wanted to form the United States of South America but later it changed. Many of his countries became independent like Columbia and Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. In 1903 Panama became independent. In 1849 the gold rush hit and Railroad and steamships catered to the gold diggers charging fees in gold to get transported from everywhere !
In 1880 the French worked for 12 years to try and dig the canal. Yellow fever , Malaria and Dengue Fever was rampant and no one knew how it was transmitted. Around 20,000 people died from diseases. The Frenchman who started this wanted it to be a private venture not supported by a country. He was in his 70’s and they wanted to put him in jail for the loss of money and failure of bonds that he sold to finance the project. His son did his jail time because he was so old!!
Teddy Roosevelt was the genius behind the building of the canal. His mother and wife died in the same day from different diseases!! The initial chief engineer was a railroad engineer who started things. He only lasted a year and was not a supporter of the workers. Then came John Stevens by ship who also was a railroad engineer. The workers loved him. He left after two years looking for greener pastures. All we see today was due to his genius. He got in the mud and dirt easily with all the workers. They called him Big Smoke because he was a chain smoker. The Army Corps of Engineers then came in finishing what Stevens started because these engineers couldn’t quit!!. In August of 1914 they planned to open the canal with luxury liners carrying dignitaries and news reporters. But due to the start of WWI the opening was cancelled. The Ancon instead came through with little fan fare.
In 2000 the canal became the ACP or Authority of Canal ifPanama. It is financially autonomous. It is over 100 years now. One administrator and 11 board of directors manage the canal efforts. The expansion program took 8 years and was finished in 2015.
Gatun Lake is very deep at 85 ft. It was dredged in many places. They do have a dry season of about 2 months. The first ship to transit the canal was determined through a raffle drawing but it was Cosco Shipping Panama that won. They changed their name because they won the raffle!!. Our speaker worked as a public relations director for the canal. Some of the famous people he met were Alan Alda, Ted Kennedy, Shamir Prime Minister of Israel, Dan Quail, Ted Turner and Jane Fonda, Ed Asher, Willard Scott, George Forman, Malcom Forbes. He had photos of all these folks with him beside them.
An average of 40 ships pass per day. The continental divide comes through the cut. Private sailboats can go through and pay about a thousand dollars. They often group five of six together and possibly put them in with a smaller ship. Species were not to pass from ocean to ocean so ecologically they didn’t want to open the canal without locks. Doing that could have been a disaster to nature. Ships make reservations a year in advance like cruise ships. There is a booking system in place.
They say every time you touch a container it’s about $100 so the cheapest way to transport is by the canal versus railway. After a few hours of passing through the Gatun Lake and the Culebra Cut we approach our last locks, Pedro Miguel . This area is where the highway, the railroad and the canal converge. We see an ambulance alongside our side in the lock and we think someone from our ship needs to be transported to a hospital. We have never seen this done in a lock situation. On the highways cars and trucks honk their horns and wave to us. Everyone is fascinated watching this cruise ship pass through. We probably stop in the dock for 15 minutes while they take an elderly gentleman off the ship into a waiting ambulance. Someone brings his bag off but it looks like he is by himself as no one else leaves the ship. As soon as the ramp is pulled we begin to descend into the lock.
Panama has the largest commercial fleet in the world and no special favors for Panamanian ships. During the transit they changed from heavy to light fuel and fees are paid in advance between 24-48 hours. The first time a ship goes through they tour the ship first to determine the tolls either physically or by their plans. 100 cubic feet of space is calculated for their fees except the bridge area. By 2:15 we had exited the San Pedro lock. Clouds became heavier and darker threatening rain. Our last lock is Miraflores. By 2:49 we are there. Workers wave to us and take photos with their cell phones!! The area looks very industrial but clean and tidy. There is a dam here off to the side. A hop on hop off can goes by and toots!! The visitor center here is loaded with viewers!!! They are on four levels observing. Around 3:00 many workers are leaving their shift. We are in the lock now and slowly descending. This time a large fire truck with flashing lights is parked right by our lock. We don’t know if the truck is there for us or?? When we exit this lock we will spill into the Pacific. The lake can vary 18 feet that we have exited from rainfall so they are draining or spilling into the ocean excess. The whole time we have listened to the narrator we have had Christmas music on the tv channel that plays when he isn’t talking. It’s been so fun! And then the fire truck pulls out and we know he must have been waiting for another worker. Passengers made poster banners to show during the transit and this is where the crowds cheered seeing all the posters.
It’s 3:32 and the gates behind us have closed but we aren’t free of the mules yet. We seem to be at a standstill. But we are descending again now to sea level in the Pacific. The line handlers from the mules will let go. We will approach the Bridge of the Americas. It was built in the 60’s and connects north and South America. Humpback whales are migrating so we may see some. Ships are asked to not exceed 10 knots to not injure and whales. This goes on for a few more weeks. In the bay there are 1500 islands with white sandy beaches and crystal clear water. Some have resorts on them.
Tomorrow will be a sea day and we love those days. Our next port will be Puntarenas where we have booked a tour through Viator called Puntarenas Highlights.
The show tonight is the singer Jerri Sager and we will skip it.
My photos are posting in odd places but I’ll continue inserting... the perils of being off line:)
Cold water stations were around the outside decks to keep folks hydrated as the watched the proceedings.
Decks were packed everywhere with viewers and as we left our room to venture a peek we found it difficult too !
Double gates in some locks
Many auto carriers were coming through
Notice the ramps to drive cars off
The tug is carefully following him ..
He was entering the other channel
Here is a photo of the Nanday parakeet as we weren’t close enough to photograph him
And the Bananaquit too. We saw many of them. We also saw the Crested Kingbird
This is a photo of the golden altar that many pirates and conquistadors tried to steal. One of the priests had the men paint it white to fool them! It worked as the altar is in one of the churches in Panama.
The ambulances come to transport a sick man off the ship. We have never seen someone get off while the ship is in a lock but it worked very efficiently.
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