Seminary in Panama: Working on the Panama Canal

As you can imagine, no trip to Panama can be complete without a visit to the canal. This canal, often referred to as one of the wonders of the world, is intimately connected with Panamanian life at many levels – in fact, the income from the canal provides a significant part of Panama’s GDP.

It really is quite an amazing operation. More than 10,000 people work on the canal which is open and working twenty four hours a day and three hundred and sixty five days of the year; and, generally, they are better paid than those who work elsewhere. At any one time there can be up to 100 ships waiting to pass through the canal (on both sides); and this is just the large cargo ships – yachts etc are “squeezed” in with them. Ships book up to five years in advance to be able to cross the canal and they are charged by tonnage – large cargo ships can pay amounts between 250,000 and 300,000 dollars a trip. This will give you an idea of the value of the cargo these ships are carrying. A man working on the canal told me that some ships can have up to 20,000,000 dollars worth of cargo.

The canal has an average depth of 85 feet. When it was opened it could accommodate any ship in the world. Now, with the advent of super tankers, that is no longer the case. That is why the Panamanians are currently building an extension to the canal – another channel which will accommodate these larger vessels.

There are a number of ways to visit the canal – one (the most normal) is to go to one of the lock gates and watch ships passing from the viewing platforms. The other is a tourist ship that carries passengers from one side of the country to the other, passing through the canal. I found a third way. A lady in the Augustinian parish who works at the canal arranged for three of us (myself, Fr. Edwin, and Br. Fabian) to spend the day on a working tug boat on the canal.

There are 40 tugs that work on the canal. Each one has a crew of four – a captain, an engineer, and two sailors. Each tug weighs 27 tonnes and has 6,000 horse power. Their job is to push, pull, guide and steer the large ships through the canal and through the lock gates. We spent 12 hours on one of these and were with the crew as they worked away. It really was a fascinating way to see the canal and a great way to understand how it works. We were extremely privileged as this is not a “trip” that is open to the pubic generally. It is something that is done from time to time but always as a treat for “friends”. I think I should stress that we weren’t working, we were watching the others work – the only way to do it!!! I think the photos give a good idea of some of what we saw.