Panama Canal Crossing

1/29—2/10/26
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Atlantic Bridge on the entrance to the Panama Canal.
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First attempt of a canal made by France.
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Heavy ship traffic in both directions.
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The first of the 3 Gatun locks come into view.
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Each one of the 3 lock will lift us up about 9 meters.
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These high-powered electric locomotives are called "Panama Canal Mules".
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They are used to guide and center massive ships through the canal’s narrow lock chambers, preventing them from hitting the walls.
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The Gatun locks have been built 1913.
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There are no pumps. Just gravity is lifting the ships.
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8 "Mules" are keeping each ship in the middle of the locks.
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There are 4 "Mules" at the bow and 4 at the stern of each ship.
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The ship in front of us is already all the way up 26 meters above sea level.
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Each "Mule" is connected to the ship with 2 steel cables.
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The "Mule" operator keeps these steel cables tied and makes sure the ship stays in the middle of the locks.
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Here you can see how this work on an ship going the other direction. The "Mules" are just guiding the ships through the locks. The ships are using their own…
2026-01-29 09.37.04 null
Selfie time
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Control tower for the Gatun locks.
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LPG tanker in the other lane.
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Impressive size of the equipment on board.
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"No Smoking" not just for the environment.