Photo Gallery

One of the two locks at Miraflores on the Panama Canal. You can see an Ecuadorian ship from Guayaquil. The manoeuvre from one lock to the other takes about an hour. The operation requires about 100 000 tonnes of water. Each lock gate is nine metres high and weighs 750 tonnes. The ship is pulled on both banks by 50-tonne tractors - they are called mulas (mules). The tractors are equipped with 75 HP electric motors. The Panama Canal measures 82 kilometres and covers an area of 250 square kilometres. It usually takes six to eight hours to navigate. This waterway was opened in 1914. Since the opening of the extension, which began in 2007, on 26 June 2016, ships with 14,000 TEU can pass through it. To date, more than one million ships of all types from all over the world have used it. - 1977

The two locks at Miraflores on the Panama Canal. The manoeuvre from one lock to the other takes about an hour. The process requires about 100 000 tonnes of water. Each lock gate is nine metres high and weighs 750 tonnes. The Panama Canal measures 82 kilometres and covers an area of 250 square kilometres. It usually takes six to eight hours to navigate. This waterway was opened in 1914. Since the opening of the extension, which began in 2007, on 26 June 2016, ships with 14,000 TEU can pass through it. To date, more than one million ships of all types from all over the world have used it. - 1977

Leaving the lock at Miraflores on the Panama Canal. The manoeuvre from one lock to the other takes about an hour. The process requires about 100 000 tonnes of water. Each lock gate is nine metres high and weighs 750 tonnes. The Panama Canal measures 82 kilometres and covers an area of 250 square kilometres. It usually takes six to eight hours to navigate. This waterway was opened in 1914. Since the opening of the extension, which began in 2007, on 26 June 2016, ships with 14,000 TEU can pass through it. To date, more than one million ships of all types from all over the world have used it. - 1977

The city of Colón on the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal. - 1977

In the shanty town of Colón at the mouth of the Panama Canal on the Atlantic side. The wooden houses of the old neighbourhoods are mainly inhabited by black people. They come mainly from Colombia and some Caribbean islands and have retained many of the customs of their people. Most of these people work in the Panama Canal Zone. - 1977

In the shanty town of Colón at the mouth of the Panama Canal on the Atlantic side. The wooden houses of the old neighbourhoods are mainly inhabited by black people. They come mainly from Colombia and some Caribbean islands and have retained many of the customs of their people. Most of these people work in the Panama Canal Zone. - 1977

Facade of an old warehouse in the city of Colón at the mouth of the Panama Canal on the Atlantic side. - 1977

Old wooden house in the shanty town of Colón at the mouth of the Panama Canal on the Atlantic side. This old neighbourhood is mainly inhabited by black people, mainly from Colombia and some Caribbean islands, who have retained many of the customs of their people. Most of these people work in the Panama Canal Zone. - 1977