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Created on Wednesday, 10 March 2010 15:49

This is M/S Black Watch inside Miraflores Locks waiting for these gates to open fully before proceeding to the next lock, the Pedro Miguel Locks. Earlier this morning, we were at the Pacific Ocean side and crossed the mountainous terrain of Panama to get to the Atlantic Ocean. Without the Panama Canal, the ship has to take the long navigation around South America and spend few days at sea to get to the Atlantic Ocean side. Practically, the ship saved fuel and trimmed down voyage time to just 10 to 12 hours.

This is the Centennial Bridge. The ship passed below this bridge shortly after moving out from Pedro Miguel Locks on our way to Gatun Locks. There is one bridge before we entered Miraflores Locks but unfortunately, I did not have a photo of it because we passed there before the sun was up. The bridge is called the Bridge of the Americas or Thatcher Ferry Bridge. It is a high-level bridge built over the Pacific entrance to the canal. The bridge carries the Pan-American Highway into Panama City. We just made our way out from Panama Canal after close to 12 hours of transit including the preparation for entry to the canal, stand-by time or waiting time for entry to three sets of canal locks and formality clearances from respective Panama Canal authorities prior and after the start of transit. Panama Canal Authorities are extremely rigorous in ensuring that all ships transiting Panama Canal technically comply in all aspects with regards to safety, health and navigational standards. One Panama Canal pilot boarded the ship at the Pilot Boarding Station in the Bay of Panama (Pacific Ocean side) just south of Flamenco Island and another pilot boarded the ship before entering Miraflores Locks. Together the two pilots took charge in bringing the ship all the way its transit up and down the canal and disembarked at Lemon Bay (Atlantic Ocean side). We are now at sea and navigating over the Atlantic Ocean waters heading to Carti Island, Panama. We’ll get there by 6:30 AM tomorrow.
The construction of the Panama Canal is one of the largest and most daring projects ever built in history. The success in the building of the canal was a breakthrough in engineering technology considering that computers did not even exist during those days. The planning alone was a major challenge in the creativity of human beings and I strongly stick to the fact that human brains are far advance from what computers are capable of. Transiting the Panama Canal is the shortest route for ships to travel both ways from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. The canal is about 50 nautical miles long and handles large volume of ships. In addition to the artificially created lakes and channels, the canal has three sets of locks or water-filled chambers that raises and lower ships through the mountainous terrain. These are the Miraflores Locks, Pedro Miguel Locks and Gatun Locks.
Photos below is the gate at Pedro Miguel Locks:

Water rises inside the closed lock

Below is an excerpt from Encarta Encyclopedia.

Panama Canal Cross Section

This cross section shows the route of a ship through the Panama Canal. From the Atlantic Ocean, a ship is raised 26 m (85 ft) through three sets of locks to the level of Gatún Lake. It travels through the lake and Gaillard Cut, the narrowest section of the canal. It is then lowered through a lock to Miraflores Lake, and passes through two more locks before reaching the Pacific Ocean.

Lock

A lock is a section of a waterway enclosed by gates at either end to allow ships to be raised or lowered to a different water level. In this example, a ship enters the upper level and the gates close behind it. The water is then allowed to drain into the lower level, lowering the water level of the lock and the ship. When the water level of the lock equals the level of the lower canal, the lower gates will open and the ship can proceed.

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