Like tossing a regulation hotdog down a precisely-fitted hallway.

Time-Lapse Video of Panama Canal Traffic:


See also: Maximum Battleships.

Previously, previously, previously, previously.

Scene missing! A video in this post has disappeared. If you know of an accessible version of this video (search), please mail me so that I can update this post.
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14 Responses:

  1. Dan says:

    I was surprised at how little traffic there was...I counted just 24 ships.

    • Nick Lamb says:

      Total transits are about 30-40 per day, so I guess this was a quiet day if you counted correctly.

      A major container or bulk freight port might handle 2-3 ships on a busy day. A cruise liner port, often no more than one per week. So 24 is still a lot.

    • d.w. says:

      I suspect the gating (ugh) factor is the time to fill and drain the locks.

      The Wikipedia article is fascinating.

  2. LafinJack says:

    This form says it doesn't allow iframe tags, and Youtube won't give the the embed code, so...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW9Frtkqy3Y

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xstd3_0usI

  3. It's called panamax, a ship designed to be as big as possible and still be allowed to use the canal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panamax

  4. kwk says:

    A man, a plan, a canal.

    • cfs says:

      Ha-ha! Many can play at that game! (Courtesy of Dan Hoey via Peter van der Linden)

      A man, a plan, a caret, a ban, a myriad, a sum, a lac, a liar, a hoop, a pint, a catalpa, a gas, an oil, a bird, a yell, a vat, a caw, a pax, a wag, a tax, a nay, a ram, a cap, a yam, a gay, a tsar, a wall, a car, a luger, a ward, a bin, a woman, a vassal, a wolf, a tuna, a nit, a pall, a fret, a watt, a bay, a daub, a tan, a cab, a datum, a gall, a hat, a fag, a zap, a say, a jaw, a lay, a wet, a gallop, a tug, a trot, a trap, a tram, a torr, a caper, a top, a tonk, a toll, a ball, a fair, a sax, a minim, a tenor, a bass, a passer, a capital, a rut, an amen, a ted, a cabal, a tang, a sun, an ass, a maw, a sag, a jam, a dam, a sub, a salt, an axon, a sail, an ad, a wadi, a radian, a room, a rood, a rip, a tad, a pariah, a revel, a reel, a reed, a pool, a plug, a pin, a peek, a parabola, a dog, a pat, a cud, a nu, a fan, a pal, a rum, a nod, an eta, a lag, an eel, a batik, a mug, a mot, a nap, a maxim, a mood, a leek, a grub, a gob, a gel, a drab, a citadel, a total, a cedar, a tap, a gag, a rat, a manor, a bar, a gal, a cola, a pap, a yaw, a tab, a raj, a gab, a nag, a pagan, a bag, a jar, a bat, a way, a papa, a local, a gar, a baron, a mat, a rag, a gap, a tar, a decal, a tot, a led, a tic, a bard, a leg, a bog, a burg, a keel, a doom, a mix, a map, an atom, a gum, a kit, a baleen, a gala, a ten, a don, a mural, a pan, a faun, a ducat, a pagoda, a lob, a rap, a keep, a nip, a gulp, a loop, a deer, a leer, a lever, a hair, a pad, a tapir, a door, a moor, an aid, a raid, a wad, an alias, an ox, an atlas, a bus, a madam, a jag, a saw, a mass, an anus, a gnat, a lab, a cadet, an em, a natural, a tip, a caress, a pass, a baronet, a minimax, a sari, a fall, a ballot, a knot, a pot, a rep, a carrot, a mart, a part, a tort, a gut, a poll, a gateway, a law, a jay, a sap, a zag, a fat, a hall, a gamut, a dab, a can, a tabu, a day, a batt, a waterfall, a patina, a nut, a flow, a lass, a van, a mow, a nib, a draw, a regular, a call, a war, a stay, a gam, a yap, a cam, a ray, an ax, a tag, a wax, a paw, a cat, a valley, a drib, a lion, a saga, a plat, a catnip, a pooh, a rail, a calamus, a dairyman, a bater, a canal…

  5. Thomas J. says:

    So where does the time between 9:00 and 11:00 go? There's a ship about to enter the lock and then some video is simply missing.

  6. That's when the shiploads of empty body bags go through, escorted by the black helicopters. Every day from 9-11.

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