The Canal

10/17/10 01:34 PM • Category: Panama

A couple of weeks ago the one-millionth ship transited the Panama Canal since it officially opened on August 15, 1914, so I thought I would post a few pictures and see what I could find in the way of “interesting facts” to mark the occasion. Surpassingly, the passage of the Fortune Plum, with a load of steel products from the Pacific to the Atlantic, wasn’t marked with a big celebration and was only announced by the Panama Canal Authority several weeks later - it was just business as usual, one of the 15,000 or so vessels that transit each year.

Some interesting stuff:

The Panama Canal was opened on August 15, 1914.
Estimated cost of the US built Panama Canal $375,000,000.
Estimated cost for the major expansion now underway, $5.25 billion.
Estimated year of completion of expansion 2014 - the Canal’s 100th anniversary.
The highest toll charged - $330,200 in 2008 by the Disney Magic cruise ship.
The lowest toll was paid by adventurer Richard Halliburton in 1928, who was asked to pay 36 cents - he swam the length of the Panama Canal.
Normal transit time for a ship is 8 to 10 hours.
Fastest Canal transit was 2 hours and 41 minutes by the US Navy hydrofoil Pegasus.
On February 29, 1968, 65 ships made the transit, a record. The average is 40 per day.
In 1963 the Panama Canal started operating 24 hours a day.
The Atlantic entrance to the Canal is 22-1/2 miles west of the Pacific entrance.