Unlocking the Secrets: Top 12 Fun Facts About the Panama Canal You Never Knew

1. Floor is Lava: Maritime Edition

Hold on to your life vests, because this one's going to make you seasick with laughter: the Panama Canal is a true champion at playing "The Floor is Lava" by helping ships skip a whopping 8,000 miles of Pacific and Atlantic waterworks! And now, the serious reveal: Since its completion in 1914, despite numerous obstacles during construction, this maritime superstar has become a crucial shipping route with over 1 million vessels successfully gliding through its waterways.
Source => history.state.gov

2. Hay-Bunau-Varilla Smackdown

Raising the "barge" of expectations: The U.S. and Panama had a heated face-off over the Panama Canal's control after the 1903 Panamanian Revolution, thanks to the notorious Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, which left Panamanians feeling "canal-tered" at their sovereignty for decades.
Source => history.com

Did you know the Suez Canal once turned into a chaotic traffic jam with ships "bumping bumpers" and honking foghorns? Find out how the Ever Given's game of "red light, green light" in 2021 caused a six-day halt and US$9.6 billion worth of blocked trade!

=> Fun Facts about The-Suez-Canal

3. Canal Couples' Therapy

Why did the Panama Canal locks go to couple's therapy? They just had too many redundancies! All joking aside: The Panama Canal lock system is ingeniously designed with multiple parallel flights of locks and auxiliary gates, ensuring continuous operation even during maintenance and accommodating varying vessel sizes without wasting water resources.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

4. Budget-conscious Swimmer

Forget cashing in your frequent swimmer miles: Richard Halliburton, adventurist extraordinaire, swam the Panama Canal on a shoestring budget in 1928. The travel writer managed to paddle his way through the famous waterway for a mere 36 cents, combining his love of exploration and budget-conscious spirit into one unforgettable dip.
Source => guinnessworldrecords.com

5. Feathered Rave in Panama

Did you hear about the feathery rave happening in Panama's rainforests? It's a non-stop, chirp-a-licious bacchanalia that has the ornithologists flocking in! Get ready to be plumazed: Soberania National Park, near the Panama Canal, holds the record for the most bird species spotted in a 24-hour period, boasting an astounding 357 species, including the melodious motmots, trendy toucans, and the ultimate VIP, the endangered harpy eagle.
Source => tourismpanama.com

6. Tropical "Floor is Lava" with a Twist

The Panama Canal: Home to the most tropical game of "The Floor is Lava" in history, complete with venomous snakes, scorching temperatures, and slippery mudslides: In the course of both French and American efforts to build the canal, a jaw-dropping 20,000 to 25,000 workers perished, but yellow fever was ultimately defeated by the heroic work of doctors like William Crawford Gorgas and his revolutionary mosquito control and sanitation measures.
Source => history.com

7. Superhero Showdown: Suez vs. Panama

While superheroes like Superman and The Flash race to save the world, we have the less renowned but just as impressive "Captain Suez Canal" and "Panama Canal Crusader"; each using their unique powers to cater to specific ship sizes and routes: The Suez Canal, reigning champion in the Shipping Olympics, is wider and deeper than its friendly competitor, the Panama Canal, effortlessly handling larger ships and slashing shipping time by an astonishing 7 to 10 days – making it the ultimate shortcut for global trade.
Source => explorationjunkie.com

8. Diva of Global Trade

Before the Panama Canal was like "Surprise, I'm fabulous," sailors had to play a deadly game of "Simon Says" with Cape Horn at the bottom of South America, a route which was like the Great British Bake Off, but with more storms and wrecked ships: Sweeping onto the scene in 1914, our diva the Panama Canal revolutionized global trade by shortening the journey between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, becoming the life of the party with over 815,000 ships passing through its fabulous waters and giving bigger ships the chance to flaunt it with its recent expansion.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

9. Indiana Jones meets Civil Engineering

If Indiana Jones were a civil engineer, the Panama Canal would be his crowning achievement: A marvel of human ingenuity completed in 1914, this watery highway has since become a vital trade route, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, while the Herculean efforts behind its construction played a key role in Panama's independence and helped shape the modern world.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

10. Ship Rockets and Continental Slicing

Imagine strapping a rocket to a ship, blasting through waters, and slicing through continents like a hot knife through butter: That's exactly what the Panama Canal did for global trade, cutting the New York to San Francisco trip from a whopping 13,000 miles around South America to just over 5,000, and slashing sailing time from over 60 days to a mere 30. Cue jaw drop and a collective "yay" from merchants everywhere.
Source => xroads.virginia.edu

11. American Canal Conquerors

When the French couldn't "canal" their efforts to bridge the great divide, America sauntered in, flexed its military muscle, and finished the job quicker than you can say, "Voulez-vous un canal?": The US conquered the challenges of disease and rugged terrain and took just 10 years (1904-1914) to build the Panama Canal, while the French had previously struggled for nearly 20 years before declaring bankruptcy and abandoning the project altogether.
Source => history.state.gov

12. Chinese "Monopoly" and Donkey Kong

While China has been playing the board game of "Monopoly" with strategic ports, it's no Donkey Kong when it comes to the Panama Canal: As of 2019, China controls two ports at either end of the Canal, but it's not in charge of the waterway itself, with only 13% of total traffic while the U.S. still reigns supreme at 66%.
Source => csis.org