08/14/2024 – 15:13
The Panama Canal celebrates 110 years of operation on Thursday (15) and there are many interesting facts and anecdotes related to this colossal interoceanic waterway, built by the United States after the failure of the French. Check out five notable facts below:
– The canal gave rise to a country –
Panama’s independence from Colombia in 1903 is associated with the interoceanic canal.
After the failure of the French Count Ferdinand de Lesseps to open a canal across the isthmus, the United States promoted the separation of the province of Panama and signed a treaty with the newly created country, permanently ceding land and water for the route.
After 10 years of construction and an investment of US$ 380 million at the time (R$ 2 billion at the current exchange rate), the canal was inaugurated on August 15, 1914 with the crossing of the steamship Ancón.
25,000 deaths from disease and accidents during the French and American construction were left behind.
During the French stage, in 1887, the then famous painter Paul Gauguin almost lost his life working on the works.
– A State within a State –
Washington established the “Canal Zone,” a territory flying the American flag that had its own military bases, police and justice system. This led to decades of Panamanian demands for the reunification of the country and the taking of control of the canal.
“The canal has represented many things in these 110 years. In its original construction: ingenuity, perseverance and sacrifice; then, a great struggle to recover a single national territory and a single flag,” the canal’s deputy administrator, Ilya Espino, told AFP.
In 1977, Panamanian nationalist leader Omar Torrijos and then-US President Jimmy Carter signed the treaties that allowed the transfer of the canal to Panama in 1999.
– Shortcut with elevators –
The 80-kilometer-long route that connects the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea uses locks, a type of elevator that raises vessels 26 meters to reach the level of Gatun Lake and cross it.
Another set of locks leaves the boats at sea level to continue their route.
The canal transformed global shipping and trade. Ships could cross from one ocean to the other in about eight hours without having to round Cape Horn. From New York to San Francisco, a ship traveled 20,300 km.
In 110 years, the waterway was only closed in 1915, due to a collapse, and in 1989, when Panama was invaded by the United States. In 2010, it was closed for 17 hours due to flooding.
“We overcame the Covid-19 pandemic without closing global trade for a single day,” highlights Espino.
– Goose that lays the golden eggs –
Connecting more than 1,900 ports in 170 countries, 6% of the world’s maritime trade passes through the Panama Canal. Its largest users are the United States, China, Japan and South Korea.
At the beginning of the 21st century, it became too small for the intense movement, so it was expanded between 2009 and 2016. Today, the passage of NeoPanamax ships is permitted, with dimensions of 49 meters wide by 366 meters long, the equivalent of almost four football fields.
This expansion “allowed us to accommodate ships with up to almost 18,000 containers,” former port administrator Jorge Quijano told AFP.
The canal contributes 6% of Panama’s GDP and since 2000, it has delivered more than R$25.7 billion (R$135.3 billion at the current exchange rate) to the Treasury.
In fiscal year 2023, when more than 14,000 ships with 511 million tons of cargo crossed it, it contributed a record US$ 2.5 billion (R$ 13 billion), much more than in 85 years of American administration (US$ 1.8 billion or R$ 9.5 billion).
– Freshwater canal –
Unlike the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal uses fresh water. “It uses two and a half times more water than a city the size of New York,” said the canal’s administrator, Ricaurte Vásquez.
For each ship, around 200 million liters of fresh water are dumped into the sea.
Alarm bells went off in 2023 when a drought forced a reduction in daily ship traffic from 38 to 22. This year it is recovering.
“Many countries have oil or gas, we have water and nature is playing a trick on us that we did not expect,” Jorge Pitti, who is responsible for operations at the Cocolí lock on the Pacific side of the maritime route, told AFP.
Authorities are considering building a reservoir on a nearby river to supply the canal, but more than 2,000 people would have to be relocated.
“The canal has to regain the reliability of its service. This can only be achieved by securing new water sources,” warned Quijano.
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