and enters the first lock at Gatn Line handlers at the lock attach steel mooring cables that are controlled by powerful electric locomotives, called mules. The mules guide the ship through the locks and steady it while the chambers are filled with water To conserve water, smaller ships often go through the locks together The entire trip through the canal takes between 8 and 10 hours plus waiting time. The canal operates 24 hours a day year-round. Each ship that travels through the canal pays a toll based on its capacity2. Traffic volume A large volume of the world’s ships, cargo, and passengers travel through the canal every year A wide variety of general cargo vessels and specialized ships pass through the canal The most common are bulk carriers for ore, grain, and liquids; automobile carriers; container ships; refrigerated ships; tankers; liquid-gas carriers; and passenger liners Many naval vessels, fishing boats, barges, dredges, floating drydocks, and ocean-going tugs also use the canal The size of ships using the Panama Canal has steadily increased. About 27 percent of the vessels that use the canal are built to the maximum dimensions that can pass through it (a category called “Panamax”) However, some of the world’s commercial and military ships are too large for the canal. Since the 1940s, new U.S. battleships and aircraft carriers have been built exceeding the canal’s dimensions3. Military uses The canal was built in part for military reasons, to give the U.S. Navy rapid access to both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans Many U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force bases were built in the canal zone to defend the vital channel. However, since World War II (1939-1945) the canal has been considered vulnerable to attack A single bomb or a scuttled ship could disrupt canal traffic for a long period, and the jungl...
