Logistics News | Panama Canal Celebrates its 108th

Author Name: Tiffany Lee – Marketing Analyst at FreightAmigo｜18/8/2022

The Panama Canal celebrates its 108th anniversary on August 15, 2022. Ricaurte Vasquez Morales, Panama Canal Administrator, stated that the canal will offer more job opportunities and continued contributions to global economy and trade.

Opened on August 15, 1914, the Panama Canal is an artificial 82 km waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Ships from the US East Coast to the West Coast had to take a detour to Ushuaia, Argentina before the canal was opened. Now, ships can travel directly from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, shortening the voyage from 20,000 km to 8,000 km. The Panama Canal has leveraged its geographic location to reshape world commerce. It is also regarded as one of the World’s Greatest Engineering Project.

The Panama Canal today connects 180 maritime routes that reach 1,920 ports in 170 countries around the world. In 2021, it handled 2.4% of global maritime trade. The Panama Canal continues to break world records in the past century. The latest record was set in July this year when the containership CMA CGM Zephyr, with a total capacity of 16,285 TEU, passed through the Neopanamax locks and became the largest ship by cargo capacity to ever transit. It surpassed the original design limits.

Panama Canal acts as the international trade and transport hub for the past 108 years. Rigorous management strategies of the canal, such preserving water resources and committing to carbon neutral targets, can ensure safe and quality service in the future.

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