Lietuviskas aprasymas zemiau
Wanna see all reports? Click here
Day 81: The Canal
April 29, 2006
It has been almost 5 centuries since the very first vision of a waterway connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific crossed the mind of the Spanish King Charles V in 1524; and nearly a century since the first ship sailed through the completed canal in 1914. Engineering has gone a long way since then, and today we are rarely surprised by the technical accomplishments of the early 20th century. Yet, there are exceptions, one of which is the famous "Great Ditch". Witnessing a 32 meter/ 105 feet-wide cruise liner pass through just a mere 1.5m/ 5 feet wider Panama Canal locks is guaranteed to take your breath away, not depending on how many impressive Canal facts you have downed before the visit.
The legendary waterway consists of a 76.9km / 47.8 mi-long man-made trench and a huge artificial lake, Lago Gatun, created by damming up the Rio Chagres river. The Canal has three sets of double locks: the Gatun Locks on the Atlantic side, the Miraflores Locks on the Pacific side, a short drive from the center of Panama City, and the Pedro Miguel Locks just a bit further north of the Miraflores Locks. More than 27,000 workers died of yellow fever and malaria during the construction of the passage across the isthmus, which at that time was little more than one of the meanest and deadliest jungles of the planet. Nowadays, about 14 thousand ships use the shortcut annually, eliminating a long trip around the tip of South America and saving an immense amount of time and money. For example, the Panama Canal saves a total of 18,000 miles on a trip from New York to San Francisco.
The route through the Canal, however, is not very cheap either. The fee depends on the weight of the vessel, the average amount being around $30,000 per ship. The highest fee ever paid was $226,000 charged to the cruise ship Coral Princess, and the lowest one, $0.36, was paid in 1928 by Richard Halliburton who swam through.
What gave the biggest headache to the engineers but made the Canal much more interesting for us, was the 26m/ 85ft difference between the water level of the Gatun Lake and that of the oceans. The series of three locks, therefore, are built to raise ships up to the level of the lake, and then, after they reach the other side of the Canal, lower them back to the sea level.
All three sets of locks can be viewed in operation. We went to see the Miraflores Locks. Located just outside Panama City, the Miraflores Locks have a modern visitor center with tons of information and a nice observation platform on the roof. Most importantly, however, there is a knowledgeable tourist guide who shows up every time a ship starts approaching the locks, and explains the entire process step by step, making the "show" a lot more meaningful.
Luckily, we arrived at the locks right before a huge Pacific-bound liner started approaching the gates of the final locks on its way to the ocean. Frankly, if you did not know for a fact that ships of this size pass through the locks daily, you would bet it will not make it! In reality, the locks are 33.5m/ 110ft wide, while the maximum allowable width of a vessel is narrower by 1.5m/ 5 feet. It appears that ability to maneuver a 190-meter long, 90,000-ton boat under such narrow circumstances is a mystery even to the captains themselves, as there are so-called canal pilots who take control of the ship for the time of the entire passage.
And lastly we would like to clarify one common misconception: the water level in the Atlantic Ocean is the same as in the Pacific, and even if one day the locks break, there is no chance for a cataclysmic water flow from one side of the planet to the other :)
Click on the pictures to enlarge
|
Miraflores locks
Miraflores sliuzas |
The famous ditch :)
Izymusis griovys :) |
A 32 meter-wide liner is trying to fit into the 33.5 meter-wide locks
Diziulis 32m plocio kruizinis laivas bando pataikyti i 1.5m platesni sliuza |
|
Success without even a scratch!
Pataike! O mes tikejomes, kad netilps... :) |
The "mules" of the Canal provide support and assure a safe passage
Saugiai praplaukti laivui padeda kanalo "asiliukai" |
Almost there. The Pacific is in the horizon.
Spektaklis arteja prie pabaigos. Horizonte - Ramusis vandenynas. |
|
At the time we didn't know that a week later the same APL ship would carry our Nissan to Ecuador
Tada dar nezinojome, kad uz savaites siame APL'o laive Nissanas plauks i Ekvadora |
The video shows how very slowly and carefully the liner passes through the locks (video clip, 8.5Mb)
Siame video klipuke pamatysite, kaip labai letai ir atsargiai laivas iplaukia i sliuza (video clip, 8.5Mb) |
Behind this gate, the Canal ends and the cruiserbegins her journey through the Pacific (video clip, 9.5Mb)
Uz siu vartu kanalas baigiasi, ir laivas iplaukia i Ramuji vandenyna (Turekite kantrybes - vartai atsidaro labai letai!) (video klipas, 9.5Mb) |
Nuvesk pelyte virs paveiksliuko, spustelk jos kaire ausele, ir paveiksliukas padides
81-oji diena: Kanalas
2006 m. balandzio 29
Panamos kanalas, kasmet palengvinantis dalia - eliminuojantis ilga ir finansiskai nuostuolinga kelione aplink Pietu Amerika - apie 14-kai tukstanciu laivu, sudarytas is 3 dvigubu sliuzu: Miraflores, Pedro Miguel ir Gatun. Pirmieji du yra prie pat Panamos miesto, o Gatun - Atlanto puseje. Tarp sliuzu yra didziulis dirbtinis Gatun ezeras (uztvenkta Rio Charges upe) - izymusis vandenynus sujungiantis kelias.
Praplaukimas Panamos kanalu - ne pats pigiausias malonumas. Mokescio dydzis
priklauso nuo laivo svorio. Paskaiciuotas kainos vidurkis - 30 tukstanciu
doleriu uz laiva, o visu laiku rekordai - pries pora metu $226 tukstanciu
sumokejes kruizinis laivas Coral Princess, bei uz 36 centus kanala 1928 metais
perplaukes Richardas Halliburtonas.
Nors kainos atrodo labai dideles, kirsti zemyna per kanala laivams vis tiek
apsimoka daug labiau, negu plaukti aplink visa Lotynu Amerika. (Pavydziui,
jei nebutu Panamos kanalo, laivo kelione is Niujorko i San Franciska pailgetu
beveik 29 tukstanciais kilometru).
Labai supaprastintas kanalo praplaukimo scenarijus yra sitoks: laivas priplaukia
prie sliuzo is Atlanto arba is Ramiojo vandenyno puses, kur atstovi eile (arba
turi rezervacija - neturintiems rezervaciju gali tekti laukti kelias savaites
ar net menesius); tada, sliuzo pagalba, yra pakeliamas i 26 metru aukstyje
esanti kanala. Praplaukes kanalu, kitame gale esancio sliuzo pagalba yra nuleidziamas
atgal i juros lygi, is kur isplaukia i priesingoje zemyno puseje esanti vandenyna.
Kartu su kiekvienu laivu i vandenyna patenka apie 200 milijonu litru gelo
ezero vandens. Idomu ir tai, kad Panamos kanalo sliuzu matmenys (33.5m plocio
ir 305m ilgio) nustate universalius laivu dydzio standartus - visame pasaulyje
laivai statomi tokio ilgio ir plocio, kad tilptu praplaukti pro kanala.
Ko gero, patogiausia Panamos kanala apziureti is prie Miraflores sliuzo (keli kilometrai uz miesto) irengtos apzvalgos aiksteles, esancios ant lankytoju centro stogo. Is virsaus puikiai matosi visa sliuzo teritorija; be to, laivui priartejus prie sliuzo, pasirodo gidas su garsiakalbiu, kuris pakomentuoja laivo praplaukimo procesa. Sio labai naudingo gido deka laivo iplaukimas i kanala igauna prasme - kitaip butu sunkoka suprasti labai specifine kanalo technologija.
Mums labai pasiseke - siandien po pietu trumpam nustojo lyti, o tuo metu, kada buvome prie sliuzo, netgi trumpam pasirode saule (lietaus sezono pradzios diagnoze, atrodo, pasitvirtino - lyja kiekviena diena nuo atvaziavimo i Panama). Be to, prie Miraflores sliuzo atvaziavome kaip didziuliam kruiziniui laivui besiruosiant isplaukti is kanalo. Gidas papasakojo, kad laivas, kurio nuleidima i Ramuji vandenyna stebejome, buvo maksimalaus leistino plocio - 32 metru. Tai reiskia, kad tarp laivo sonu ir sliuzo krastu praplaukimo metu liko tik po 75cm is abieju pusiu. Neitiketina, kaip toks platus laivas pataiko pro vos metru uz ji pati platesnius vartus! Navigavimo per kanala metu laivo valdyma laikinam perima patyres "kanalo pilotas", o papildoma apsauga praplaukiant pro sliuza suteikia is abieju pusiu laiva prilaikantys "asiliukai" (ziurekite nuotrauka).
Apie tai, kad buvo be galo idomu, net neissiplesime - savaime suprantama! Taciau buvo dar ir labai linksma - laivas praplauke taip arti musu, kad net spejome pabendrauti su kruizo dalyviais. Trys laivo virejai buvo ypac itartinai linksmai nusiteike :) Kruiziniam lbaineriui is paskos i kanala iplauke krovininis "APL" kompanijos laivas. Tada dar nezinojome, kad si juru kroviniu kompanija uz savaites plukdys musu masina i Ekvadora :)
Planuojantiems kelione prie Panamos kanalo, patariame atvykti paruosusiems "namu darbus" - pries tai pasiskaiciusiems ne tik apie sliuzu veikimo principa, bet ir apie skandalinga kanalo istorija, raida bei aktualijas - ekskursija bus zymiai ispudingesne ir prasmingesne. Kitaip sis inzinerinis sedevras gali pasirodyti tik neiskalbi, sunkiai suprantama (ir del to - nelabai idomi) gremezdiska konstrukcija.
Pabaigai noretumeme paneigti populiaru mita. Vandens lygis Atlanto vandenyne
yra toks pats, kaip ir Ramiajame, todel, net jei viena diena visi trys sliuzai
sugriutu, nera gresmes, kad vanduo nutekes is vienos planetos puses i kita
:)
