History was made yesterday at the Panama Canal when the container ship COSCO Shipping Panama transited the newly expanded canal.  The ship carried over 9,000 TEU and has a beam of 158′ and is 984′ long, longer and significantly wider than was possible in the old canal.

The new $5.4 billion canal expansion features two new sets channels and locks, one set each on the Atlantic and Pacific sides. It has also widened and deepened existing channels and has raised the maximum operating water level of Gatun Lake. Whereas the largest ship that could previously transit the locks could be no longer than 965′, wider than 106′, or have a draft greater than 41.2′, the new maximum dimensions are a length of 1,200′, a beam of 160.7′ and a draft of 49.9′. Previously the largest container ships that could transit the canal where roughly 5,000 TEU, now container ships of up to 14,000 TEU will be able to pass. Overall, the new expansion is expected to double the transit capacity of the canal.

Looking Forward

What does the expanded canal hold for the future of Panama and for world commerce? It is too soon to say and the future is far from clear.  On one hand, the Los Angeles Times say that the expanded canal will herald a “new era in global trade” while the New York Times is calling the canal expansion, “a risky bet.”  The new locks and widened channels are years behind schedule and billions over budget. The NY Times writes: “The expanded canal’s future is cloudy at best, its safety, quality of construction and economic viability in doubt…”  Serious concerns remain about the design and construction of the new expansion.

Regardless of what issues may need to be addressed with the canal design and construction, it has already left its mark on ports around the US and the world.  In New York, the canal expansion has prompted the raising of the Bayonne Bridge to allow the larger container ships which can now call from Asia by way of the canal.  The ports of Baltimore, Charleston, Houston, Boston, Jacksonville, Miami, Savannah, and Brunswick among others, have all undertaken significant expansion projects to accommodate the larger neo-Panamax ships.

Looking Back

The Panama Canal opened just over 100 years ago, in 1914.  After 34 years of on-and-off construction and a price tag of $375 million — more than $8 billion in today’s dollars — the canal became one of the biggest and most expensive infrastructure projects in human history. It was also costly in human lives. An estimated 27,000 workers died of disease, the majority in the failed French attempt to build the canal.

The impact of the canal on US and world shipping was immense. The canal shortened the distance from the US East to West Coasts by water from over 11,000 nautical miles to around 4,000. The canal proved critical to the US Navy during the world wars by making it possible to more quickly move ships between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Since the first ship passed through in April of 1914, the Panama Canal has been at the center of global trade. By 1939, more than 7,000 ships a year were traveling through the canal. 14,702 vessels transited in 2008. By 2012, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal. In 1934 it was estimated that the maximum capacity of the canal would be around 80 million tons per year. In 2009, canal traffic in reached almost 300 million tons of shipping. If all goes well, that capacity will double with the new expansion.

Panama Canal Opens New Locks