Panama
The Panama Canal is an 82 km lock-based canal across the Isthmus of Panama, connecting the Caribbean Sea (Atlantic) to the Pacific Ocean. It opened in 1914 and was expanded in 2016 to handle Neopanamax vessels.
The Panama Canal is the key shortcut between Asia and the US East Coast and between the two American seaboards, sparing ships the long passage around Cape Horn. Its locks are fed by the freshwater Gatún Lake, which makes transit capacity sensitive to droughts: low water levels force draft limits and daily transit caps, pushing carriers toward the Suez alternative or US intermodal rail. Slot auctions and queue times at the canal are a direct input into transpacific routing decisions.
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84 of our covered port-to-port routes transit the Panama Canal. The most significant ones, ranked by carrier coverage at both ends:
| Route | Distance |
|---|---|
| Hamburg Port of Vancouver | 9,317 nm |
| Antwerpen Port of Vancouver | 9,044 nm |
| Hamburg Iquique | 7,158 nm |
| Hamburg Buenaventura | 5,452 nm |
| Hamburg Guayaquil | 5,945 nm |
| Antwerpen Iquique | 6,886 nm |
| Antwerpen Buenaventura | 5,180 nm |
| Antwerpen Guayaquil | 5,672 nm |
| Bremerhaven Port of Vancouver | 9,271 nm |
| Bremerhaven Iquique | 7,112 nm |
| Bremerhaven Buenaventura | 5,406 nm |
| Bremerhaven Guayaquil | 5,898 nm |
| Alexandria Port of Vancouver | 10,388 nm |
| Santos Port of Vancouver | 8,803 nm |
| Santos Port of Vancouver | 8,803 nm |
The Panama Canal connects the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Bordering countries: Panama.
Among the 1225 port-to-port routes covered by Seadex, 84 transit the Panama Canal.
The Panama Canal is the key shortcut between Asia and the US East Coast and between the two American seaboards, sparing ships the long passage around Cape Horn. Its locks are fed by the freshwater Gatún Lake, which makes transit capacity sensitive to droughts: low water levels force draft limits and daily transit caps, pushing carriers toward the Suez alternative or US intermodal rail. Slot auctions and queue times at the canal are a direct input into transpacific routing decisions.