Quote:
Originally Posted by EatMyDust
If this info from globalsecurity.com is right, probably means transit is not until tomorrow ...
There are many different parts of the Panama Canal that all work together. There are three locks in the Panama Canal, Gatun, Pedro Miguel, and Miraflores. A ship entering the Canal from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean enters at Gatun Locks and exits at Miraflores Locks. While going through the Panama Canal, the ship will be raised and lowered eighty-five feet. After going through Gatun Lake and Gaillard Cut, the ship enters Pedro Miguel Locks and is lowered 31 feet. After Pedro Miguel Locks, one mile later it enters Miraflores Locks to be lowered the remaining 54 feet to the Pacific Ocean. The locks are 110 feet wide, 1,000 feet long, and seven stories high. Each time a ship goes through (a lockage), 52 million gallons of water are used. There are three lock chambers in every lock station. It usually takes a whole day (8 or 10 hours) to transit the canal from one ocean to the other.
A ship from the Atlantic Ocean enters the Panama Canal waters of Limon Bay from the breakwater at Cristobal. Upon arrival in Panama Canal waters, if a vessel is not scheduled to transit that day, it will drop anchor and wait for its scheduled transit time. Otherwise, the vessel will sail toward the first lock. The Panama pilots take control of the vessel during its transit through Panama Canal waters. The chief pilot will instruct the ship's captain as to the speed and direction of the vessel. The chief pilot also will tell the tug operators, line-handlers, and locomotive engineers what assistance they need to provide, while the pilot remains in contact with the Panama Canal TCC and each lock tower. The captain relays the pilot's instructions to his crew members, who perform the proper maneuver.
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Interesting. W&W on their updated schedule as of yesterday was showing arrival at Panama Canal of April 9, and departure of April 10, so that may be right and they may not push ships through when it's dark out.
Sadly, since I seem to be having issues finalizing a sale on my current car, every extra day I get may be a blessing at this point. Sorry!
This will have to hold us over in the meantime: