Azamara Journey Cruise Ship

In this image we see the Azamara Journey Cruise Ship on her South bound Panama Canal Transit today on December 28 2010 on a rainy day leaving the Gatun Locks in Colon heading to the Gatun Lake and later to Panama City. Normaly we should have the dry season starting now and the heavy rains we have had this december in Panama (according to the Panama Canal Authority the most rain in december in the last 200 years) this is due to La Niña that brings cooler waters in the Pacific Ocean currents then normal causing extreme weather problems in many countries see this blog here about La Niña weather problems.

Azamara Journey Cruise Ship

Seabourn Sojourn Luxury Cruise Ship

The Seabourn Sojourn, a luxury cruise ship operated by Seabourn Cruise Line, is seen here in the Miraflores Locks in her South Bound Panama Canal Transit, on Christmas Day December 25 2010.

The Seabourn Sojourn
Operator: Seabourn Cruise Line
Capacity: 450 passengers

The Seabourn Sojourn in the Miraflores Locks

The Celebrity Constellation Cruise Ship

The GTS Celebrity Constellation, a Millennium class cruise ship of Celebrity Cruises, is seen here in the Miraflores Locks in her South Bound Panama Canal Transit today December 24 2010.

The GTS Celebrity Constellation cruise ship

Class and type: Millennium Class cruise ship
Decks:     13
Capacity: 1,950 passengers
Crew:     999

Panama Canal Flooding Satellite Image

Panama Canal Flooding Satellite Image what is seen in this NASA image is the Lago Alajuelaa (Lake Madden; formed by the Madden Dam) a reservoir along the upper Chagres River, that feeds the Lake Gatun and the Panama Canal.

That image was taken on Dec 17 2010, and still today on Dec 24 the lakes water remains with extremely heavy sediments causing problems to Panamas water supply as the water treatment plants are struggling to cope with this problem. Also guess they need to take a close look at deforestation and its effects on the Panama Canal watershed.

NASA TEXT: In early December 2010, the Panama Canal closed for only the third time in its 96-year history. Two artificial lakes linked to the canal, Gatún and Alajuela, reached their highest-recorded water levels, prompting authorities to close the canal for 17 hours. The canal reopened on December 9.

Lago Alajuela serves as a reservoir for the Panama Canal, which lies to the lake’s southwest. On December 17, 2010, several days after the canal’s temporary closure, the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite captured this natural-color image of Lago Alajuela. This image has been rotated so north is to the right. The canal lies off the top left corner of the image.

Torrential rains can erode soils, delivering heavy sediment loads to streams, rivers, and lakes. Ranging in color from dull green to tan, Lago Alajuela appears choked with sediment, contrasting sharply with the surrounding green forest.

Panama is accustomed to heavy precipitation. The rainy season lasts from May to January. The Panama Canal actually depends on huge quantities of water—each trip through the canal requires some 52 million gallons. Still, heavy rains in early December 2010 overwhelmed the region. The same rains that raised Lago Alajuela’s water level and filled it with sediment also forced thousands of residents to evacuate, washed out roads, and caused deadly landslides.

Lago Alajuelaa

Check out the Real Time Panama Canal Ships Location GPS Map

Check this out: NEW from Canal-Cruise-Panama.com Information on Panama Canal Cruises and what else to do around the Panama Canal

This great feature is a real time updates GPS map of the Panama Canal with the location of all ships at any given moment! Check out this cool new map here:

Click Here For The NEW: Real Time Panama Canal Ships Location GPS Map

The Silver Cloud Cruise Ship in The Panama Canal

Here we see the Silver Cloud Cruise Ship in the Miraflores Locks in her North Bound Panama Canal Transit today, on a sunny day, December 16 2010.

Name: Silver Cloud Cruise Ship
Registry: Bahamas
Capacity: 296
Number of Passenger Decks: 6
Number of Outside Rooms: 148
Number of Restaurants: 4

Silver Cloud Cruise Ship

The Island Princess Cruise Ship

The Island Princess Cruise Ship seen here in the Pedro Miguel Locks in her North Bound Panama Canal Transit today December 15 2010.

The Island Princess Cruise Ship

The Oceana Cruise Ship

The Oceana Cruise Ship

The Oceana Cruise Ship is seen here in her South Bound Panama Canal Transit in the Miraflores Locks today on a rainy Monday Dic. 13 2010. We had some bad weather here for a while now with some heavy flooding in some parts of Panama. In the other Lock in Miraflores behind the Oceana we can see the Norasia Alya  Cargo Ship.


The Oceana Cruise Ship
Crew: 875
Decks: 15
Passengers: 2,016

Panama Canal Flooding Video Taken From The Gamboa Bridge

Here is some video from the Chagres Bridge at Gamboa where you see the heavy flood that comes down the Chagres River with alot of vegetation beeing swept into the Panama Canal. From Youtube:

Panama Canal resumes transits

Panama Canal resumes transits, after a stop to all transits as a safety measure that started yesterday due to extremely heavy rains that caused high water levels in all lakes and strong currents in the Chagres River. You can see the actual real time ship movements here in this Panama Canal GPS map. See also here this report from CNN: Panama Canal reopens after heavy rains and flooding.

La Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP) suspends temporarily Panama Canal Transits

La Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP) suspends temporarily Panama Canal Transits due to extremely high water levels because of prolonged heavy rains in the area. The strong currents of the Chagres river could affect ships in the area of Gamboa and therefore the temporary halt to all ship transits.

See also this report here from BBC News: Traffic through the Panama Canal is suspended for the first time in more than 20 years because of heavy rain.

The Truth About Cruise Ships

The Truth About Cruise Ships - A Cruise Ship Officer Survives the Work, Adventure, Alcohol, and Sex of Ship Life

This is a behind-the-scenes look at cruise ships in a way that’s never been done before. Some of the stories are shocking, some are enlightening, but most are just laugh-out-loud entertaining. This tour behind those “Crew Only” doors will reveal:



- How romance on a cruise ship is unlike anywhere else

- The insane things passengers do

- Why alcohol is mandatory at sea

- How nude cruises compare to Christian cruises

- What happens when things go horribly wrong at sea

Charges to tackle ship emissions

BBC News reports here: On the sidelines of the UN climate summit, a plan is being hatched to charge cargo ships on the basis of their emissions.

Cargo Ship in the Panama Canal

The MS Zuiderdam cruise ship in the Gatun Locks

The MS Zuiderdam cruise ship (a Vista-class ship) is seen here today November 19 2010 on a partial Panama Canal Transit in the Gatun Locks. The MS Zuiderdam a is sister to the Oosterdam, Westerdam, and the Noordam. The names of the four ships translate to the four directions of the compass in Dutch.

The MS Zuiderdam cruise ship

The MS Statendam S Class Cruise Ship

The MS Statendam is seen here in the Miraflores Locks in her South Bound Panama Canal transit today November 17 2010. For information on Cruise ship classes please see this index here at Wikipedia.

The MS Statendam

The MS Statendam
Class and type: S class cruise ship
Length: 720 ft (219.5 m)
Decks: 12
Capacity: 1,258 passengers
Crew: 557

The Island Princess Cruise Ship

Custom-built for the Panama Canal, the spectacular Island Princess is a destination all on its own. Here we see the Island Princess in her North Bound Panama Canal transit in the Miraflores Locks today November 15 2010.

The Island Princess Cruise Ship

Island Princess
Passenger Capacity: 1,970
Registry: Bermuda
Length: 964’

The Celebrity Infinity and the Crystal Symphony

Celebrity Infinity

The Celebrity Infinity Cruise Ship with an Occupancy of 2046 and the Crystal Symphony Cruise Ship with a Guest Capacity of 940, both where yesterday, November 12 2010, on their respective south bound Panama Canal transits seen here in these images taken in the later afternoon as they left the Panama Canal to the Pacific Ocean.

Crystal Symphony

The Zuiderdam and the Norwegian Star Cruise Ships

The Zuiderdam and the Norwegian Star Cruise Ships seen here in the Gatun Locks in the Panama Canal today November 9 2010. The Zuiderdam does a partial Canal transit only (up to the Gatun lake and later back out to the Caribbean) and the Norwegian Star Cruise Ship is on her south bound Panama Canal transit.

The Zuiderdam and the Norwegian Star Cruise Ships

The MS Statendam Cruise Ship

Here we see the The MS Statendam cruise ship in her north bound Panama Canal transit in the Miraflores Locks, today November 08 2010.

The MS Statendam Cruise Ship

The MS Statendam
Class and type: S class cruise ship
Length: 720 ft (219.5 m)
Decks: 12
Capacity: 1,258 passengers
Crew: 557

The Celebrity Infinity Millennium Class Cruise Ship

The Celebrity Infinity is operated by Celebrity Cruises and seen here on her north bound Panama Canal transit leaving the Miraflores Locks, today November 2 2010.

The Celebrity Infinity Cruise Ship

The Celebrity Infinity

Occupancy: 2046
Length: 965 FT
Beam: 105 FT
Inaugural Date: Mar 03, 2001

How the Panama Canal Works

Video of How the Panama Canal Works, more details see also this page here at Wikipedia and this website here for Panama Canal History.

MAERSK DAMIETTA PANAMA CANAL

The MAERSK DAMIETTA CARGO SHIP is seen here in her south bound Panama Canal transit in the Miraflores locks, today 27 October 2010.

MAERSK DAMIETTA

Ship Type: Cargo
Year Built: 2008
Length x Breadth: 294 m X 32 m
DeadWeight: 67410 t
Speed recorded (Max / Average): 26.5 / 10.5 knots

The Island Princess Cruise Ship

The Island Princess cruise ship, owned and operated by Princess Cruises line, is seen here in her south bound Panama Canal transit in the Miraflores locks today October 26 2010.

The Island Princess Cruise Ship

Island Princess
Tonnage: 91,627
Passenger Capacity: 1,970
Registry: Bermuda
Length: 964’

The MAERSK JAUN and the PEQUOT Cargo Ships

The MAERSK JAUN and the PEQUOT Cargo Ships in the Miraflores locks in their north bound Panama Canal transit on October 25 2010.

The MAERSK JAUN and the PEQUOT Cargo Ships

The Coral Princess Cruise Ship

The Coral Princess cruise ship owned and operated by Princess Cruises line, is seen here on her north bound Panama Canal transit leaving the Miraflores Locks and heading to the Pedro Miguel Locks.

The Coral Princess Cruise Ship

The Coral Princess Cruise Ship
Tonnage: 88,000
Passenger Capacity: 1,970
Registry: Bermuda
Length: 964’

The Sea Princess Cruise Ship

Sea Princess (formerly Adonia) is a Sun-class cruise ship operated by the Princess Cruises line. She is seen here in the Miraflores Locks on her north bound Panama Canal transit on October 20 2010.

Sea Princess

The Sea Princess Cruise Ship
Class and type: Sun-class cruise ship
Length:     261 m (856 ft)
Beam:     32 m (105 ft)
Decks:     14
Capacity:     1,950 passengers
Crew:     900 crew

MS Veendam Cruise Ship

The MS Veendam is one of Holland America Line's Cruise ships here she is seen in her south bound Panama Canal transit (leaving the Gatun Locks) on October 19 2010.

MS Veendam Cruise Ship

The MS Veendam Cruise Ship
Length: 719 ft (219 m)
Beam: 101 ft (31 m)
Decks: 11
Speed: 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Capacity: 1,350 passengers
Crew: 580

Panama Canal Timelapse

Panama Canal Timelapse, Found at Youtube.com: A time-lapse journey through the Panama Canal from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean onboard a cruise ship.

The Island Princess Cruise Ship

The Island Princess Cruise Ship seen here entering the Pedro Miguel Locks in her north bound Panama Canal transit today October the 16th 2010.

The Island Princess Cruise Ship

The Island Princess
Tonnage: 91,627
Passenger Capacity: 1,970
Length: 964’

The Island Princess in the Gatun Locks - Colon

NEW: Real Time Panama Canal Ships Location GPS Map

NEW from Canal-Cruise-Panama.com Information on Panama Canal Cruises and what else to do around the Panama Canal

This great feature is a real time updates GPS map of the Panama Canal with the location of all ships at any given moment! Check out this cool new map here:

NEW: Real Time Panama Canal Ships Location GPS Map

Panama Canal Map

One Millionth Ship Crosses Panama Canal

The Chinese freighter "Fortune Plum"  has become the one millionth vessel to cross the Panama Canal three years ahead of the waterway's 100th anniversary.

View to the Panama Canal
Miraflores and Pedro Miguel Locks from the Ancon Hill

Lady Rosemary Cargo Ship

The Lady Rosemary Cargo Ship seen here in a photo from last year when she was waiting at Amador for her northbound Panama Canal transit.

Lady Rosemary Cargo Ship

Ship Type: Cargo
Length x Breadth: 143m X 23m
Speed recorded (Max / Average): 19.7 / 19.2 knots
Flag: Panama [PA]

Queen Elizabeth names Cunard's cruise ship in Southampton

"Queen Elizabeth"

BBC News reports here: "The Queen has officially named Cunard's new Queen Elizabeth cruise ship in the port of Southampton."
And we cant wait to see this great Cruise Ship here doing her first Panama Canal transit.

Ship facts:
Guest Capacity     2,068
No. of Crew     996
Length      964.5 feet
Width     106 feet
Draft     25.9 feet

The ms Statendam and The Celebrity Mercury

The ms Statendam and The Celebrity Mercury both in their north bound Panama Canal Transit seen here today October 11 2010 in the Miraflores locks.

The ms Statendam and The Celebrity Mercury

The Coral Princess Cruise Ship

The Coral Princess Cruise Ship in her southbound Panama Canal today October 10 2010
Passenger Capacity: 1,970
Length: 964’
Height: 204’
Beam: 122’ (including bridge wing)

The Coral Princess Cruise Ship in the Miraflores Locks

Prince Albert II Expedition Cruise Ship

Prince Albert II Expedition Cruise Ship seen here in the Gatun Locks enetering the Panama Canal today October 09 2010 on a rainy day, well its rainy season and October is normaly the month with the most rain.

Capacity: 132
Average Speed: 14 knots
Length: 354 feet
Beam: 52 feet
Number of Passenger Decks: 5
Number of Outside Rooms: 66

Prince Albert II Expedition Cruise Ship

Cargo Ships in the Panama Canal

Cargo Ships waiting for their Panama Canal Transit

The canal is presently handling more vessel traffic than had ever been envisioned by its builders. In 1934 it was estimated that the maximum capacity of the canal would be around 80 million tons per year; canal traffic in 2009 consisted of 299.1 million tons of shipping.

Cargo Ship approaching the Bridge of Las Americas on a rainy Day

The SS Oriana in the Panama Canal

The SS Oriana seen here today in her south bound in the Panama Canal transit

The SS Oriana
Length: 245.1 m
Beam:     30.5 m
Capacity:1,750 passengers
Crew: 780

The SS Oriana in the Miraflores Locks October 06 2010

View at the same moment from the Oriana onboad live webcam

Cargo Ships in the Miraflores Locks

Panama Canal:
Cargo Ships in the Miraflores Locks

Cargo-Ships in the Miraflores Locks

Norwegian Pearl

Norwegian Pearl

Length: 965 ft (294.13 m)
Decks: 15
Speed: 25 knots
Capacity: 2394 passengers
Crew: 1100 crew

The Norwegian Pearl in her north bound Panama Canal Transit today here seen leaving the Gatun Locks heading to the Caribbean.

Norwegian Pearl

The Coral Princess in the Miraflores Locks

The attached image shows the Coral Princess in the Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal in her north bound transit  today.

The Coral Princess in the Miraflores Locks

The Coral Princess

Coral Princess  The Coral Princess will be in the Panama Canal Tomorrow the 1st of Oct. 2010 in a North Bound transit.


Passenger Capacity: 1,970
Registry: Bermuda
Length: 964’
Height: 204’
Beam: 122’ (including bridge wing)
Draft: 26’
Maximum Speed: 24 knots

Coral Princess

MS Queen Victoria

The MS Queen Victoria

Length: 964.5 ft (294 m)
Beam: 106 ft (32.3 m)
Decks: 16 total, 12 passenger
Speed: 23.7 kn (43.9 km/h; 27.3 mph) maximum,
service at 18 kn (33.3 km/h; 20.7 mph)[2]
Capacity: 2,014 passengers
Crew: 900 officers and crew

MS Queen Victoria in the Panama Canal

The Celebrity Constellation - Millennium Class cruise ship

The Celebrity Constellation
Class and type: Millennium Class cruise ship
Tonnage: 91,000 gross tons
Length: 964.6 ft (294 m)
Beam: 105.6 ft (32 m)
Draft: 26.3 ft (8 m)
Decks: 13
Speed: 24-knot (44 km/h)
Capacity: 1,950 passengers
Crew: 999

The Celebrity Constellation

The Crystal Symphony

The Crystal Symphony

Guest Capacity 940
Ship's registry The Bahamas
Total Crew: 545
Gross registered tons 51,044
Length 781 ft. (238.0 m)
Width 99 ft. (30.2 m)
Draft 25 ft. (7.6 m)
Cruising speed 20 knots

The Crystal Symphony

The Cruise Ship ms Zuiderdam

The Cruise Ship ms Zuiderdam
Gross Tonnage: 82,000 grt.
Length: 951 feet
Beam: 105.8 feet
Maximum speed: 24 knots (service at 22 knots)
Ship's Registry: The Netherlands
Passenger capacity: 1,848
Crew: 800

The The ms Zuiderdam is seen in thse images in her North Bound Panama Canal Transit. In the first one in the Miraflores Locks and in the second image entering the Culebra Cut, passing the new Centennial Bridge.

Sea Land Mercury Maersk Line Container Ship

Sea Land Mercury Panamax Maersk Line Container Ship seen here in the Miraflore Locks in the Panama Canal.

From Wikipedia: Panamax is determined principally by the dimensions of the canal's lock chambers, each of which is 110 ft (33.53 m) wide by 1,050 ft (320.04 m) long, and 85 ft (25.91 m) deep. The usable length of each lock chamber is 1,000 ft (304.8 m). The available water depth in the lock chambers varies, but the shallowest depth is at the south sill of the Pedro Miguel Locks and is 41.2 ft (12.56 m) at a Miraflores Lake level of 54 ft 6 in (16.61 m). The height of the Bridge of the Americas at Balboa is the limiting factor on a vessel's overall height.

The maximum dimensions allowed for a ship transiting the canal are:

Length

Over all (including protrusions): 950 ft (289.56 m) Exceptions:

    * Container ship and passenger ship: 965 ft (294.13 m)
    * Tug-barge combination, rigidly connected: 900 ft (274.32 m) over all
    * Other non-self-propelled vessels-tug combination: 850 ft (259.08 m) over all

Width (beam)

Width over outer surface of the shell plating: 106 ft (32.31 m) General exeption: 107 ft (32.61 m), when draft is less than 37 ft (11.3 m) Tropical freshwater.

Depth (draft)

In tropical fresh water 39.5 ft (12.04 m). ACP uses the freshwater Gatun Lake as a reference. The salinity and temperature of water affect its density, and hence how deep a ship will float in the water. When the water level in Lake Gatún is low during an exceptionally dry season the maximum permitted draft may be reduced.

Air draft

190 ft (57.91 m) measured from the waterline to the vessel's highest point; limit also pertains to Balboa harbor. Exception: 205 ft (62.5 m) with passage at low water (MLWS) at Balboa is possible

All exceptions are typically allowed only after specific request, an investigation and on a one- or two-time only basis.

A Panamax cargo ship would typically have a DWT of 65,000-80,000 tonnes and a maximum cargo intake of 52,500 tonnes.
The longest ship ever to transit was the San Juan Prospector, now Marcona Prospector, an ore-bulk-oil carrier that is 973 ft (296.57 m) long, with a beam of 106 ft (32.31 m).[4] The widest ships to transit are the two North Carolina class battleships, USS North Carolina (BB-55) and USS Washington (BB-56), which have beams of 108 ft (32.92 m).