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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE November 12, 2005
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| November 2, 2005 |
Peace Boat crosses the Panama Canal |
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| Peace Boat participants flock to the front deck for a good view of the Panama Canal crossing |
On November 2, Peace Boat made her transition from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean via one of the world’s largest greatest engineering achievements – The Panama Canal. Participants hit the front deck from sunrise, eager for a good view of this once in a lifetime experience. |
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| Peace Boat awaits entry into the second chamber of the Gatun Locks |
Peace Boat entered the Canal from the harbor town of Cristobal, near Colon in Panama. A pilot came onboard, who assisted with the complicated crossing throughout.
Peace Boat started her crossing by cruising along the channel for 11 kilometers, (7 miles) towards the first set of locks. The first locks, called “Gatun Locks”, consist of three pairs of concrete chambers. After Peace Boat entered the locks, small electric locomotives called mules ran on tracks alongside the locks to guide and stabilize the ship towards the first chamber.
After entering the first chamber, huge steel gates closed behind Peace Boat, locking the vessel. Valves were then opened, allowing water from the lake to flow into the chamber through openings in the bottom of the lock. The water slowly raised the ship to the level of the water in the second chamber. |
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| Entering the final chamber of the Miraflores Locks |
The gates in front of the ship swung outward and the mules guided Peace Boat to the second chamber, where the process was repeated, until a third chamber forced the ship to rise to the level of Gatun Lake.
After a 35-kilometer (22 mile) sail across the human-made lake, Peace Boat entered a channel called Gaillard Cut, before coming to the “Pedro Miguel Locks”. These locks lowered the ship 9 meters (31 feet) to Miraflores Lake. After cruising for a few kilometers Peace Boat reached the final locks, known as the “Miraflores Locks”. Here, two chambers lowered it to the level of the Pacific Ocean. |
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| Looking back at the Panama Canal after going through all three sets of locks |
Peace Boat then made one last 13 kilometer (8 mile) haul through the final segment of the canal. Eighty kilometers and around eight hours after entering the canal, she finally reached the Pacific Ocean, and cruised towards her next port of call, Callao in Peru. |
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Brief History of the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal took over a decade to construct, and was completed in 1914. It was funded and controlled by the United States at a cost of US$380 million, after a failed attempt by the French. Diseases such as yellow fever and malaria killed thousands of workers during the canal’s construction. After construction the canal was administered by the United States, till full control was granted to Panama on December 31st 1999.
About 12,000 vessels travel through the Panama Canal yearly – around 33 per day. The ships carry about 260 million tons (235 million metric tons) of cargo annually. |
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