The Panama Canal solves the problem of different sea levels by sending ships through a series of three locks. First, the locks lift the vessels up to Gatun Lake, and then they lower them through three more locks back down to sea level. On average, it takes 8–10 hours to move through the canal’s 51-mile length.
Canal History
The French began building the canal in the late 1800s but gave up when they ran out of money and lost too many workers to tropical diseases. In 1904, the United States bought the Canal Zone because it wanted to expand its shipping and naval power between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It paid $10 million to Panama and $40 million to France. U.S. engineers decided a canal lock would protect ships from landslides in the Andes Mountains, and U.S. doctors found treatments for the tropical diseases of malaria and yellow fever. In 1914, the Panama Canal was completed after costing $375 million. The United States owned the canal inside the country of Panama, but in 1977, President Carter signed a treaty that promised to turn the canal over in 1999. The agreement allowed the United States to intervene anytime that its use of the canal was threatened. By that time, the canal cost more to run than it returned in profit to American companies; railroads were much faster, and their costs had fallen. The treaty also improved relations with Panama and the rest of Latin America, but many Americans saw it as an American retreat from its global power.
Canal Expansion
The expanded Panama Canal opened on June 26, 2016. The expansion added a new third lane, which doubled the canal’s capacity. Most importantly, it accommodated Neopanamax ships. Each one is 1,200 feet long and carries three times the cargo of 965-foot-long Panamax ships. At least 5,000 Neopanamax ships went through the canal between 2016–2018.
How the Expanded Canal Affects You
The expanded Panama Canal keeps the cost of imported goods down, which lowers inflation. These are the top five U.S. ports as of 2019: Among the top 25 inbound ports in North America, U.S. ports led with 73.6 percent of the total North American trade. Not only does the canal create more U.S. jobs, but the expansion also makes the U.S. transportation system run more efficiently. For example, it relieves congestion at the LA/LB port—where most of the traffic comes from Asia—and it’s given U.S. exporters better access to China and other Asian markets. It’s become cheaper to ship through the Canal than ship to Los Angeles and move through goods by rail and truck.
How the Canal Lowers Shipping Costs
The fastest way to get cargo from China to the U.S. East Coast is by ship and rail, which takes 18.3 days, including 12.3 days to go from China to the U.S. West Coast. Cargo on a train takes six days from the West Coast to the East Coast, and for this reason, 75% of Asian imports take this route. Before the expansion, only 19% of cargo ships from Asia took the Panama Canal route because it took 21.6 days. The remaining 6% of China’s trade to America goes through the Suez Canal in Egypt, which takes 21.1 days. The canal’s expansion makes this longer route more profitable for commodities exporters who need to cut costs more than they need to reduce time. The expansion will also open the Asian market for U.S. natural gas exporters. Before the expansion, the canal was too small for liquefied natural gas ships. High-value, time-sensitive goods, such as electronics, will still use West Coast ports and rail.
