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Panama Canal

A view of the construction site of the Panama Canal Expansion project in January 2014.

New safety concerns rising with expanding Panama Canal

Development

It’s been 101 years since the first ship traversed the Panama Canal’s 48-mile waterway. But now the canal is too small to take the world’s largest container ships. A massive expansion project has been underway, but the new changes are raising safety concerns for some.

Local residents wade into the shallow waters of Lake Nicaragua, the largest in Central America, with the volcanic island of Ometepe in the distance. Many are worried that the lake will be contaminated by the country's new $50 billion Chinese-backed Pacifi

China’s American canal could sacrifice Nicaragua’s great lake

Environment
SS Kroonland is seen on 2 February 1915 at the Culebra Cut while transiting the Panama Canal. Kroonland was the largest passenger ship to that time to transit the canal.

The Big Canal

Business, Economics and Jobs
Excavator at work, in Bas Obispo, Panama Canal (1886).

Panama: A historical perspective

Business, Economics and Jobs

After six years and billions of dollars, the Panama Canal expansion may grind to a halt

Business, Economics and Jobs

Nicaraguan Canal

The first ships sailed down the Panama Canal in 1914. Now, nearly one hundred years later, Nicaragua is considering building a canal of its own, with the help of a Chinese developer.

Chinese Plan for Inter-Oceanic Canal Across Nicaragua Echoes British Disaster of Long Ago

China is planning to build a canal across Nicaragua to rival the Panama canal. The Chinese are not the first to dream of using Nicaragua as a trade route to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The World's History Editor Chris Woolf recalls a disastrous British attempt way back in 1780, at the time of […]

Panama Canal Expansion Exposes Fossilized Treasures, Revealing Rare Glimpse Into Earth’s History

Arts, Culture & Media

A multibillion-dollar expansion of the Panama Canal is proving a boon to scientists. The construction has revealed a trove of fossils, revealing a wide array of creatures that lived at the southern end of North America 20 millions years ago.

The World

Central American Isthmus

Arts, Culture & Media

Paleontologists are studying rocks collected during excavation work which they say will help explain the geological history of the isthmus.

The World

A Trans-Continental Island

Arts, Culture & Media

Looking for a trans-continental island that is a 3-day cruise to the Panama canal.