Panama Canal Draft Restrictions Could Halt Coastal Shift
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- Опубліковано 21 вер 2024
- Panama Canal Water Levels Dropping
What's Going on With Shipping?
May 26, 2023
In this episode, Sal Mercogliano - maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu) and former merchant mariner - discusses the impact of falling water levels on ocean commerce.
#supplychain #container #panamacanal #containerships #commerce
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Panama Canal Draft Restrictions Could Halt Coastal Shift
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I lived at Howard AFB, Panama Canal Zone for 5 years in the 1970’s. I can’t imagine a drought in Panama based on the tropical deluges I saw during the rainy season down there. Amazing stuff!
I've seen it fill up a convertible that was left down
It was issues when I was there in the 90s before they built the new locks. Clearing of the jungles was one suspected culprit back then, but can't say for sure.
If the geoengineers want a drought, they make a drought
Need more water in the Canal? Capture the humidity.
@@TheSwissChalet , And how's that?
Sal, shortly after the US handed the Panama Canal over, Panama was warned not to develop the rain forest to the north of the canal because it was the water shed for Gatun Lake. Since then the deforestization for roads, agriculture and ranches has been an overall negative effect because the deforestation has lead to the loss of that water shed function. Ever since then, the waters naturally flowing were reduced by development. Now with the drought, it has been exasperated.
It's a third world country Do you think they take warnings seriously
My dad did dredging operation on the canal I'm the 1940s. The canal design includes a complete watershed management system. This complex system includes dams on the tributaries of the Chagres River and Gatun Lake. As designed these dams regulate the level of Gatun Lake and generate the electricity to run the canal. Since no water is pumped up to Gatun Lake, lock operations drain the Lake with each use, requiring resupply from the reservoirs above the Lake. As you pointed out the new wider locks are more efficient in water use, but are bigger volumetricly. Thus as the volume of shipping goes up, the volume of water drained from the Lake goes up. This is without other demands on the hydroelectric dams. The population growth in Panama demands more electricity, which is generated by the dams releasing more water, even if not required for lock operations. Another problem is development of the water sheds reduces their effectiveness as water collectors and jungle destruction changes the climate, further reducing water supply.
In other words, over use of the system creates drought which further impacts water availability. Through this all the channel through the Lake still has to be dredged to maintain clearance for deep draft vessels. A known problem from the beginning was the constant flow of mud into Chagres and the Lake. This does not even get to the Political pressures and greed involved in operating the canal.
Interesting that the west coast couldn’t “handle” the ships coming in, creating a supply chain issue. So ships continued on through the canal. Now there’s a “drought” and ships are limited and charged fees. Thus creating “supply chain issues”. It’s amazing how there’s always a reason nowadays. Going on two plus years.
I used to transit the Panama Canal often back in the 90s. The old locks of course. Quite an experience. One thing I learned was that because the lock fees are based on tonnage, it is ridiculously cheap to do so in a sailboat. (I didn't, I was on a tanker.) Yacht sailors would make a part out of the transit, and local yacht club members would join as line handlers.
Back during that time tolls for small vessels, under 65' were nothing more than pocket change, just a paper work charge in practical terms. Not so now, anything from a kayak up to 65' is $1760.00 plus whatever fees they can tack on.
@@LeeB48 It doesn't surprise me that they've raised the price. Thanks for the update.
Small boats actually use much more water to transit than big ships . The staff and wear and tear and insurance are much higher on the big ships .
I took my 33ft sloop through, and acted as line handler for other yachties. Quite scary to share a lock with a huge ship! Living at Pedro Miguel on the Gatun lake was amazing.
@@AlwaysBastos I watched this many times from the bow or stern of a large tanker or freighter, and thought it was the coolest thing.
Appreciate the different maritime subjects and the details, well presented.
Thank you for your effort.
Well done!
We live on a dynamic planet. Never a dull moment. Thanks for the report professor.
Interesting development on the canal. I think you'll see traffic get diverted to LA/LB, with the containers loaded straight on to trains and shipped to the distribution points, bypassing the warehousing in Southern California. It'll be a lot quicker than shipping through the Suez Canal, to Europe etc. Of course shippers will be leery going through the west coast as long as the Longshoremen are without a contract.
One more Pacific port to think about, Prince Rupert, BC. It is the closest North American port to Asia on the North American rail network. Canadian National(CN) has been trying to develop this as they can provide through service all the way to Chicago. This has also had the backing of both the provincial and federal governments.
In addition they are still working on enlarging at Vancouver, BC. Both Canadian Pacific (CP) and CN have had changes in management.
The latest twist being the Kansas City Southern(KCS) merger with CP. KCS was wanting to develop Lazaro Cardenas as a Pacific port.
Transitioned the canal in the eighties - military vessels had a head-of-the-line privilege. I went through on USS Skipjack SSN 585; we got right in, no delay, going Atlantic to Pacific, and were escorted by helo gunships and infantry when we saw them. It was an interesting and enjoyable transit.
Weather and scenery - beautiful.
That sounds really cool. Thanks for sharing the story.
The normal Dry Season in Panama Canal watershed runs from late December through April. May is the first full month of the Rainy Season and since it is a transitional month the rains can be a little unpredictable. While rains have returned they have not been over the watershed of Gatun and Madden (Allajuela) Lakes in large enough quantities to start raising the Lake levels. The last time there was a similar situation was over the 2015/16 period when Gatun Lake reached modern record lows of 78' above sea level. Nominal Lake level is 85' above sea level. As part of the Canal expansion Gatun Lake's max elevation was increased about a foot and a half from 87' to 88.5'. Max elevation is not normally held for any length of time.
The other problem is in times such as now the watershed for the Lakes is experiencing a little less rainfall than what is considered normal, there are greater demands on Gatun Lake. Obviously the new locks have added to the greater demand with the larger chambers. A little secret not often discussed is the new locks have exacerbated the rise in salinity of Gatun Lake. The rise in salinity is heightened by the use of the water saving basins. To combat this the new locks often perform flushing operations to pull the saltiest water near the Lake entrances of the new locks and waste it to sea. Essentially running lockages without ships. Add to that, Gatun Lake has become the source of much more of Panama's potable water for a greater segment of the population.
I mentioned earlier about the 2015/16 sub par rain, this was during a strong El Nino event. It seems the weather is setting up this year to a El Nino condition, when this happens the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, the rainmaker, which normally occurs over Panama moves more to the south. While this doesn't cause complete loss of rain, it does lessen the amount of rain received over the watershed. Rain received over the watershed since the last big El Nino has been near normal to above normal. Nowadays the Canal really depends on above normal years to sustain "normal" water usage.
Thanks Sal! Great report. Didn't see this on the Networks.
As a railfan living near the ConRail lines that service Port Newark/New York I've been happy about the shift to eastern ports. These lines, used by Norfolk Southern and CSX for port access have seen a noticeable difference in train lengths in the past few years. Not unusual now for 150 or more car intermodals heading west from ports.
A ship I was on dropped anchor in Gatun lake one beautiful fall afternoon and I got to swim around the ship, being mindful of the cooling water intakes near the stern.
Sorry to hear about the drought....
These changes illustrate the potential benefit of replacing off-shoring with what might be called near-railing. For the U.S. that means shifting production from distant Asia, which requires shipping, to Mexico and Central America, where transport can use rail over shorter distances and no canal fees. I saw that yesterday when I bought a name-brand ladder that came from Mexico.
Long Beach could be expanded....
The china worm is turning
Made in anywhere but china
I remember seeing video from local TV news that the trains showing rail cars carrying freight, UPS, FedX, etc. being ransacked when the trains stops in California. I wonder if they EVER figured out how to stop it.
They installed cameras at that location and use drones.
Stopping it wouldn't be so difficult. The California government is deliberately undermining the state. Which is as obvious as a 1965 search light.
You're Being Conquered America!
Washington DC has been Captured.
Because the people disdain their Creator's laws.
There are 7 Scriptures commanding the 7th Day Sabbath.
Exodus 20: 10.
Exodus 23: 12.
Exodus 31: 15 and 16.
Exodus 35: 2.
Leviticus 23: 3.
Genesis 2: 2 and 3.
Matthew 5: 18. Not One.
There are 0 Scriptures commanding a weekly sun day observance. 0.
Acts 20: 7 refers to the yearly Shavuot/Pentecost commanded in Leviticus 23.
So we see the world has entered into
Matthew 24: 4, 6, 7 and
especially 8.
Leading to
Revelation 13 and
Revelation 14.
Leading to
Matthew 24: 21 and 22.
🔹II Chronicles 7: 14🔹
🔹Deuteronomy 28: 1 - 14🔹
You are talking about California. Almost nothing there ever gets fixed. The state is circling the drain to the tune of "California Dreaming."
I don't think they did anything but a band aid approach. What I think could be done is to build/modify intermodal cars with solid ends that go up to the height of the second container or at least high enough so once the containers are loaded the door cannot be opened unless containers are removed.
@@skyh We saw how well the cameras worked in Portland Oregon when during the pandemic people would break into a business with a hoodie shirt on and nobody can tell who they are.
Holy draft man!
What the draft!
Holy lead line!
PS - Port of Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, Mexico and Class 1 railroad Kansas City Southern de México maybe the ultimate TEU winner.
So, by failing to build enough resevoir capacity to support a growing population, they started taking water from the resevoir intended to maintain the depth of the canal. The canal is a very significant income earner and an internationally critical waterway. If international shipping is messed around too much other solutions will be found and Panama will lose out.
Banana Republic thinking at its finest
Been cutting off the nose for awhile now its ring around the tub oh no
I watch Port of Houston/Galveston daily. Dramatic drop in traffic in the last 3 weeks. Why?? Still far more Container ships than a year ago. Is the economy affecting ship traffic in Houston? Also, why do huge Container ships leave Houston for Mobile , Al? Is trucking containers over that distance far more expensive than by ship?
Am a newbie .. Don't come here often, but when i do - HOLY CRAP !!!!! You explain everything so well i can follow great.. HOLY CRAP..
Panama has a Rail Line once owned by Kansas City Southern there now so no, not going to *"materially"* impact Shipping i would think as just move towards more break bulk if need be. The other option(s) remain a Canal across Nicaragua and a Rail Line across Southern Mexico both of which have in"effectively" existed throughout time in one form or another.
When you buildeverything up to the limit. These kind of stops must be more common.
Good point, if you build right up to the edge of the specification then you need to expect lessened reliability. Perhaps it would have been prudent to build ships 2000-5000 TEU smaller than the limit, but I suppose that, since the canal has been running reliably at max capacity for a long time, ship owners got complacent.
I wonder if the new wider canal locks have any of the blame for the depletion of Gatun Lake. It seems like the bigger locks would require almost twice as much water. This has to have added to the stress on the lake's capacity.
It has, although the new locks have a system that reclaims 80% of the water.
Thank you for this very informative and interesting review of this important subject. Great stuff!
Great video! It was explained in a way that anyone could understand what’s going on. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Glad you enjoyed it!
The Panama Canal runs North and South! I never knew that, always assumed it went East and West.
Well done. Explaination clear and without bias. Easily understood.
Great report, Sal. Where was your PANAMA HAT? It seems that would have been perfect topper for this story.
Nice report, Sal. As you say, the ship has left port as to the structural diversification shift to East and Gulf port costs versus LA/LB, so LA/LB can't count on benefitting this time from the Panama draught conditions.
the easiest way to stop the water level in the lake from dropping would be to pump the water from the locks back up to the lake instead of allowing all that water to pour out into the oceans as you have always done... btw, the Panama canal has been swam back in the 1930s by Richard Haliburton. His tansit cost him a few cents!!! sadly his adventures finally cost him his life on a yacht in a typhoon. ... His books about his adventures are really neat, though. I have them in my library.
Thank you Sal!🇺🇸
What ever happened to that NAFTA agreement about building a super container port in Mexico, and running the containers up through the center of the continent? Back in the early 2000's, you would have thought the world was going to end for all the American ports.
Wow well this totally encouraged a second Panama canal to be built and/or massive train transfers this could be an economic game changer
The cost of digging, of creating a brand new canal from nothing would be record setting. Who could possibly finance such a undertaking. Plus in today's world it would take at least 10+ years if not 15, from the start of serious planning and doing surveys, to finish. It might be nice to have the option of a 2nd canal, but--------
@@shopshop144 I would say Google it. What is shop shop
Always great content Dr Sal !!!.. Question: With the Russian Icebreakers keeping open the Arctic passages, is there any way container ships will ever use this route if Gatun Lake levels drop so low that freight is deeply impacted. ??
That is possible, but that route requires ice strengthened ships.
Which means smaller Loads
How much more do rates and surcharges need to go up before it’s cost effective to sent 20,000+ teu ships from Asia to the US east coast via one of the two southern capes?
Thanks Sal, hope you have a great weekend.
Price them self right out of a job I new the U.S. should have never given over control.
I noticed it mentioned briefly the east in the East/West split also includes the Gulf of Mexico. What are the numbers like over time for Gulf/East shipping?
Love this channel.
As always, thought provoking! Thank you Sal!
Why only have the water recycling, to a point, only on one coast? And is there any talk about adding something similar to the old locks?
They are on both sets of locks for the new lane. Panama is discussing fitting them to the old locks.
@@wgowshipping Good, they didn't show up on the map you were using on the north end. Any idea of how much of the lock volume they are able to recovery on a full cycle, lowering one ship/emptying the lock, and then raising another ship? I'm guessing it would be a huge plumbing task to redo the old locks. Very interesting video, thanks.
OK; dumb question. If they use the retention ponds to retain/recycle water from the new larger locks do they still just flush the water to sea at the older smaller locks?
Good detail lad thanks
Eastward transfer of shipping relieves train freight through the transition, of course. Hopefully all of the ships don’t pollute our Florida coastline, though.
Don't like shipping pollution? Instead of being a NIMBY, maybe just stop buying cheap crap from overseas.
Are shippers taking a serious look at the Northwest Passage as an alternative transit path?
What would it take to make it cost-effective for cargo ships to go around Cape Horn? The major beneficiary of increased traffic on route would probably be Argentina. The economic decline of Argentina began immediately after the Panama Canal opened, and this makes sense if you think about the fact that the opening of the canal meant that the port of Buenos Aires ("fair winds" in Spanish) immediately went from being a major crossroads of world shipping to being a backwater that wasn't on the way to anywhere. Of course, that route is probably the most difficult sailing on the planet, so it's not clear what would be required to make it cost-effective.
In addition to the tremendous short-cut the canal provides, the weather conditions around Cape Horn make that route no-go for entire seasons.
Well done, answered my many questions.
Thanks for great reporting,as usual. So what do you think will happen with the canal if/when, there's a war betw US and china? Does china have enough control to close it or even stop the lake water from flowing?
I guess if a war happens They wouldn't be shipping much out of China anyway,at least not to the US etc.
Hi Sub, No Jokes today. People need to take this serious.
Thanks!!!
Stop blaming "global warming" for everything from bad breath to dandruff. A real new dam was needed when the new locks were constructed. The new locks couldn't be used at all if they hadn't been built with stilling basins to try to reuse some of the water of each lockage. Note there were no stilling basins installed on the Atlantic side of the new locks. That is another bad design decision.
A new, enlarged Gatun Lake will be tremendously expensive. And stilling basins for the Post-Panamax locks of the Atlantic side of the canal will also be tremendously expensive too. But don't blame global warming. Gatun Lake always has had a too-small water supply for the volume of Post-Panamax draft container ships that would sail south of Long Beach, CA, headed for eastern or western Atlantic Ocean ports.
Also, please don't blame global warming for poor design planning of inherently long-range infrastructure projects. Note how the long-range design planning of the first Panama Canal lasted just as it was designed to, about 100 to 120 years. The Post-Panamax Canal design, in failure less than 30 years after its completion, is a design failure for an infrastructure design that was supposed to be designed for 120 years of continuous operations AT FULL CAPACITY.
Great report Sal, any updates on the laker Cuyahoga engine fire, is it repairable?
Very concerning for west coast of South America to Europe shipping.
Bit of a kerfuffle made me 2 days late watching. Good evening Sal
Do you expect to see increases at other ports too? Do you think the Port of Brownsville will be affected in Texas?
thanks
This seems like it's too convenient.
⚓️ Thanks Sal 😎 for me 😎 and general conservation of resources… this move of Walmart cargo for the Midwest thru the canal is as it should be… BECAUSE all those containers would go by rail or road. We knew … in the industry… that canal improvements would have this EXACT affect. There is no downside to shipping thru the canal. Now the PMA opportunistically… blames the change on the ILWU. When the industry KNEW this would happen & if shippers & carriers didn’t plan for this they’re dumber than me ⚓️
Could you comment on the plans to build a canal (sea level?) through Nicaragua?
Which sea level? The 2 oceans are not at the same elevation.
@@ghost307 -- Well, that's opens up the possibility of generating power.
@@ghost307 The difference is - according to a quick google search, 68cm or a bit more than two feet (Next entry gives 40cm or a good foot of difference). If you are digging a 'sea level' canal, that should not be the biggest hurdle for the project...
@@gamarus0kragh That could probably be overcome with a single set of locks to prevent a current like that at Cape Hron from developing, but the economics would likely doom it since a canal at least wide enough for 2 of the largest ship type would have to be dug from the existing ground level (those are some seriously tall mountains) down to around 50 feet below the water level. If they want to pursue a 'sea level canal' they should look for a shorter trip through much flatter land.
@@GilmerJohn Good idea. But it might be cheaper to run a large pipe between the 2 oceans and install low head turbines. No real need for an expensive open channel if all you want to do is run large quantities of water from one end to the other.
Great report
Thanks Sal
see those rollers the ships ride on the locked using so all panama has to do , or anyone has to do in secure storage lots on bothe sides of the locks to store the containers that make the bigger ships too heavy to to pass . off load the containers and go through then pick up the containers a different ship going the opposite way had to off load pick them up and continue to next porton the way back and on the way to the panama
El Niño weather impact panama?
This has happened before but now they have the new locks.
How long until the Northwest Passage is open?
TLDR; Its an excuse to raise rates because they can...
I wonder if the new lock is increasing the flow out of the lake
@What is Going on With Shipping? Dr. Sal, thank you for explaining all this me (Mr. General Public). I'm a bit confused about how TEU ship size relates to draft. Do all fully loaded 15k TEU ships have the same draft? What if all containers were empty?
Draft is determined by weight. The heavier the ship, the deeper its draft. Heading from Asia to the US through the Panama Canal, the ships will need need to be lighter and carry less boxes to meet the draft requirements..
@@wgowshipping thank you for the clarification Dr. Sal.
i was thinking why dont all the big ships just fill up their bilge tanks and then empty them once theyre up top at the lake. then i thought about it for awhile and realized it was literally a zero sum game... not to mention all the marine life issues with that lol. panama is making bank with this shift in shipping.... but they need to keep investing in infrastructure to stay competitive. i feel like its getting to the point where for every dollar they spend on canal infrastructure, they would receive more than a dollar back after only a year or two, in increased trade. something weird is going on with corruption or something idk.... i thought the original plan was for a lot more water reclaim basins.... also they could theoretically pump ocean water back up to the top of the basins and instead of using 2/3rd's less water each lock, they could probably get it down to 1/2 the water with pumping infrastructure.... considering the new locks are just so much more efficient in terms of water loss... it is kind of crazy that they are targeting those ships with a per container hit.... probably just because those are the only people who they know have to pay due to vessel design/niche. a lot of other ships will just slowboat around or wait at the west coast. im thinking panama only has about 5-10 more years of raking in the cash until we start to see a new class of vessel that is like.. semi ice breaker that can reliably go through the northern passage. the time for them to invest to stay competitive is now, not 10 years from now... because thats how long construction takes.
this all feels weird to say about a country with so much poverty still.... idk
We should be thinking about a Rio Grande canal project to improve shipping between the east and west, not to mention the economic value of such an infrastructure investment as well as resolving many supply chain issues.
Then they will build a wall because you have to have a wall around the canal I like that idea I like it!
@@sitdowndogbreath it'd be a boom for the Mexican economy as well. It's likely that Mexicans would not need to come here for handouts or dope deals.
@@NO-GAMES maybe a couple of canals one in Nicaragua then one in ischemish Mexico and one also on the Rio grande and possibly maybe one through Central Florida to bypass the keys
@@sitdowndogbreath Ha, genius. But only if we get Mexico to pay for it.
Bring back cargo to West Coast L. A. L. B. we are ready
Gotta wonder if the larger locks are expediting the draining of the lake between the oceans on years of less rain.
Nice shirt 👍😃
2 questions: Is it over use due to higher traffic, or 100 new dams upstream to boost profits? Seems a good time to have a mobile crane service with barge rental.
I would argue it is a matter of all those, plus a reduced rain fall. This all comes down to water management.
@@wgowshipping Amen Sir, Amen. Really appreciate what you present to the Public. I wonder if your students are properly appreciative. Lucky shits...
@@wgowshipping And rain is coming.
@@bryanst.martin7134 Nah...they just don't know a good thing. 🤣🤣🤣😇
@@wgowshipping Mercy! I taught ASW as a rookie, yeah that doesn't happen... Like Tom gets TG out of flight school. But you twist the Detailer's arm properly, and you get a new challenge!
My 1st instructor was former SEAL. 3 years later, he was my student!! ODU was conducting paper surveys to understand our training methods because it was classified. One Survey by my former instructor rated me as SME. That, your students couldn't understand.
I taught mine that I won't be there to aid, so heed my words and practice.
Wasn't too long the SU fell. :-)
Had a lot positive responses on those surveys. ODU couldn't enhance the system, and asked if they could adopt it. Yes.
So buy US rail shares?
JUST MANUFACTURE IN THE USA...easy breezy, win/win.
No.
@@Ryan-qf7ri Quitter! Be a Patriot ..
Thank you. Maybe part of destruction of the equatorial "rain forests."
I have seen plans from Chinese to make a second west -east canal (old plan). How is the water supply in that country?
Happens every year.
EL NINO IS HERE.
$500 per box!? fkn DANGGG! just in time for russias annoucement of the northern polar route or whatever its called
Use ocean water for the locks. The ships are designed for salt water. Using fresh water is stupid.
Why isn't the Panama Canale salt water?
Fresh water is needed to maintain the lake which is 85 ft above sea level.
Can of these large vessels transit the Northwest passage?
Lock stock and two dredged channels
But but but I've been assured that the oceans are rising every year. Shouldn't the canal be under water already?
Hey, numbnuts, generally you build locks to go up a hill. The locks at the bottom of the hill could be flooded and those at the top of the hill could still have a shortage of water, those things are not at all mutually exclusive. Freshwater is released into the ocean every time a ship goes through the locks, that freshwater can only make it back up the hill by evaporating and raining back down into Gatun Lake. Wouldn't you know, they're having a drought, and not getting a whole lot of rainfall to replenish the lake. Go be stupid somewhere else.
You do not understand climate change... The Pacific near Panama is falling with the drought, but near the south seas islands, the Pacific is rising to flood them. Question that as a scientist and you loose your job.
@@gelf1907 Nobody understands climate change because the excuses and goals keep changing but the facts do not. Name a single dock in the world that has had to build out of the flooding as the ocean gets higher and higher. The kids are sold that the ocean is claimed to rise 10 feet in 10 years every 10 years. In the last 40 years we should be under 40 foot of water living at sea level.
Google the methane hydrate map. All that methane ice is trapped and is released over time all over the globe. Humans could not produce with that level of GHG with double the population. One good earth shake could raise the Temp by a degree in a year from this methane storage. But ya it's humans causing the problem. As the corporations pollute with abandon... as long as it's not carbon. Millions of functional Apple devices are shredded every year that fill garbage dumps only to build more. With newly mined materials. That's one corporation. If all that methane were to release at once the worlds temperature would jump to +10C industrial... but it's humans that are the problem.
I want to go through the Panama Canal. Why don’t they fill the locks with salt water
They could, but then they'd have to install huge pumps and build power plants to power them.
...and no, wind and/or solar wouldn't work.
I never thought about the power infrastructure in that area.
Price increase. That is gonna hurt.
Why can`t they use sea water?.
Seawater would contaminate the fresh water of Gatun Lake.
The pumping costs would be prohibitive. The lock system was designed with “free water” stored at the top of the mountain to supply the canal in both directions, cascading into the oceans as the gates open and close raising and lowering the vessels on their trip across the mountain range that traverses Panama.
The idea of using seawater isn’t too bad, though; the sea level Suez Canal does that.
But a cost effective canal across Central America that uses seawater would probably have to be cut through Nicaragua, not Panama. In the 1960’s digging a canal by exploding hydrogen bombs was seriously explored.
That idea probably wouldn’t fly today…
Is anyone worried if all the stuff that comes from China is delayed? Most of it’s terrible quality!
El Nino is striking Z !
People have been making noise about China financing a new canal crossing from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico or Caribbean across Nicaragua. I wonder if this could kickstart that project. I know the project would take a decade or more to finish once first ground is broken, but I have to wonder if China or any other economic power could make this happen, it isn't 1910 any more and the route they're talking about is one of those rejected for the original 1910 project.
I think that project is a non starter. Central and S America have endured drought conditions for a few years at least.
wait, you mean the iceburgs that melted because we all ate too many hamburgers didn't make the world's water levels rise???
Do you know the elevation above sea level of Gatun Lake, the freshwater lake which powers the entire Panama canal? It's 85 feet. You're an idiot if you think any climate scientist has ever claimed that the ocean would rise 85 feet by now. The locks at the top of the hill still need water even if the bottom is flooded out.
But if the lake lvl drops they need to raise the ship less and have less work to do, so it should be cheaper to pass. On a more serious note, what does that mean for prices from china to europe, and how did the price getting through suez canal change over the past years?
BUT...But...but. the canal is next tothe ocean, just pump ⛽ sea 🌊 water into the locks. Hello
Gatun Lake is fresh water.
@@wgowshipping
BUT...But...but.... halve ( that step Down 👇) the locks, flush water 💦 into the ocean. Do Not need fresh water 💦.
All locks that are on sea 🌊 level have Ocean water 💦.
Hello 👋
Thousands of views in 10 hours.... you're slipping! 😅😆 kidding! You really created a great channel which has filled a big void.
4:25, Caribbean not Atlantic
Technically it is not the Pacific but the Gulf of Panama, but I appreciate your point.
Time to start dredging.
I don't understand the rationale for the per-container surcharge. How heavily a vessel is loaded has no effect on fresh water usage, so why tax containers? A better formula would be beam X length.
China…
Sea Levels are dropping!
😁
Sea levels actually don't play a level on the canal, since the issue is the water level in the lake, which is above sea level.
@@wgowshipping I don't think that was the point of the comment. It suspiciously appears to be a jab at the C(lie)mate Change Cult & religious zealots.
@@lilblackduc7312 Gullible Warming