In 1914, the SS Ancon became the first ship to ever transit from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean through the Panama Canal. The artificial canal, around 50 miles long, is one of the largest engineering projects in human history. More than 100 years later, it still operates around the clock and is a key gateway for global commerce. The passage shaves thousands of nautical miles off routes that would otherwise require traveling around the southern tip of South America.
This animated map highlights the Panama Canal and the ships that pass through it. Using data from PortWatch and the Panama Canal Authority for 2022 and 2023, it represents an average week of transits through the canal.
The map opens showing real-world imagery of the canal, running across Panama. Ships, color-coded based on the Panama Canal Authority’s market segment categorization, dwell on either side of the canal. As the first ships begin to transit the canal, callouts identify their overall route, tonnage, and more. A clock in the upper left corner tracks the passage of time and shifts from day to night. It generally takes about 8–10 hours for a ship to transit the canal entirely, from one ocean to the other.
As ships move through the canal in both directions, a legend on the lower left side tracks the number of transits, organized by market segment. Ships slowly eke through the locks on both ends, highlighting the slowest parts of the transit. The map shows a generalized version of the route ships take through the canal and across Gatun Lake.
At the end of the week, graphics and maps summarize transits by market segment and tonnage. In this average week, vessels categorized as Other led with 69 total transits. Though it only accounted for 53 transits, the Dry Bulk segment saw 1.99 million tons of cargo transit the canal. In terms of weekly tonnage, ships following the East Coast US to Asia route were responsible for the most cargo moved through the canal.
In late 2023, the number of daily transits dropped to a low of 22 due to water levels in Gatun Lake. Water from the lake powers the locks for the canal, so lower water levels mean fewer transits. While conservation efforts have stabilized operations, concerns about increasingly dry seasons persist. Gatun Lake also supplies drinking water for parts of Panama. During droughts, locks in the canal recycle more water. This has slowly increased the salinity of the lake and has put the country’s water supply at risk.
More to Explore
- Learn more about how the locks in the canal work.
- Watch webcams of the locks to see transits in real time.
- Track water levels in Gatun Lake.
