The Panama Canal was opened in January 1914, and from then through December 2010, the Panama Canal has had over 1,000,972 ship transits through the canal, delivering over 8,587,711,605 tons of goods worldwide.* Today, the Panama Canal’s maximum ship size is 4,400 TEUs (1,000 ft)lengths by 100 ft widths) referred to as ‘Panamax’ ships. Upon completion of the new third lock system the larger ‘Post-Panamax’ ships, 12,600 TEU’s (1,400 ft lengths by 160 ft widths) can transverse the canal. These larger ships allow for the delivery of containers at reduced prices due to the sheer scale of delivery capacity—imports and exports will grow exponentially. Completion is scheduled for early 2015.
