(AFP) The Panama Canal swelled the country's coffers by a record $1 billion in the 2010-2011 fiscal year, bringing the total earned since control of the waterway was handed over by the US to some $6.6 billion. The waterway which links the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans handles 5.0 percent of world trade annually, and was handed over to Panama's control by the United States on … [Read more...]
A small-ship view of a Panama Canal transit
(Miami Herald) They sit there motionless atop the horizon, ships of global commerce in perpetual line. Cloud-slung skies silhouette their bulk as crewmen bide the hours and days, impatient in the wet tropical heat for their turn to enter this grand gateway of the world — the Panama Canal. We wait too, bobbing beneath the arching iron of the Bridge of the Americas, wondering … [Read more...]
Panama Canal Orders 14 New Tugs
(gtCaptain.com) The Panama Canal Authority has ordered 14 new tugs in anticipation of increased traffic and larger vessels expected with the 2014 completion of the Third Set of Locks expansion project. The $158.3 million construction contract was awarded to Astilleros Armon S.A. of Spain, who beat out nearly 20 other bidders from countries in South America, Europe and … [Read more...]
Panama Canal Transit sets tonnage record
(Prensa.com) For transited the Panama Canal in fiscal 2011, which ended September 30, 322.1 million tons, which marked a record tonnage traffic, reported Sunday the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) . Preliminary figures indicate that the ACP Panama Canal closed fiscal 2011 with 322.1 million tons PC / UMS, which is the Universal Measurement System Ship Panama Canal, volume … [Read more...]
Panama canal drives forest conservation
(Mongabay.com) An ambitious initiative in Panama is attempting to do just that. The Agua Salud Project is a joint effort between the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), the Panama Canal Authority, Panama’s National Environmental Authority, and the HSBC Climate Partnership. The effort aims to "understand and quantify" the ecological, social, and economic services … [Read more...]