Nearly a million ships have transited the Panama Canal, whose 1OOri' anniversary was celebrated on 15 August. Some remarkable occurrences have marked the passage of time and vessels. Included are: the cheapest passage (36 cents paid by adventurer Richard Haliburton, who swam the canal) and the bonus of $141,000 paid to enable the Crown Princess to move up in the queue for a faster passage. The new century may bring competition as well . A competing canal is proposed along the Nicaraguan route that was abandoned a century ago. The HKVD Group of Hong Kong won the support of the Nicaraguan government for a proposed canal that could handle larger ships than Panama. It would be 172 miles in length- the Panama Canal is about fifty miles long. The estimated cost is $40 billion-four times the Nicaraguan GDP. It would include two deepwater ports, an interoceanic railroad, two airpons, and an oil pipeline. Environmentalists have expressed their opposition. But this is not the only competition. Climate change has res ulted in accelerated ice melt in the Arctic, resulting in the possibility of open shipping lanes through the Northwest passage. Not without danger, a limited number of ships have travelled this route in recent years. Transiting the Northwest passage is more cost effective for shippers between Asia and Europe than a Central American canal crossing. Only nature will determine whether it is feasible. Who could have predicted that changes in the natural world wo uld become a factor in determining the routes of global shipping, and perhaps the future of the Panama Canal? J, Dr. Timothy j. Runyan is a professor of maritime studies at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. He recently transited the Panama Canal to observe the progress on the expansion project. A founder of the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio, with its historic 618-Joot ore carrier William G. Mather, he has long appreciated the value of canals. He has transited the Soo Locks connecting Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes aboard the 1,013-foot Paul R. Tregurtha (ex-William J. De Lancey); he also transited the Erie Canal crewing a 65-foot US Army T-boat, built by Higgins in 1953.
16
OPENING
OF
THE
PANAMA
CANAL.
AT WHU:fl- DISTANT DAY Oca.ur NntGATI Ol'I' WILL B& 4 'f'llln.& OUT or D.ln.
This 1906john S. Pughe political cartoon's caption reads: 'l'lt which distant day ocean navigation will be a trifle out ofdate. " The anticipation that aviation would make the canal obsolete would not be realized. Today, more than 14, 000 vessels carrying over 300 million tons ofcargo transit the canal annually, and the development ofan additional set oflocks that can handle "post-Panamax" ships will open in 2015. The new locks will be able to accommodate ships 1,400 feetlong by 180 feet wide.
SEAHISTORY 148,AUTUMN2014