Panama Canal toll - How much do you think?

[mike_van]

A lady wrote a story in a local paper here about her trip through the canal. She said the toll [one way]  was $149,000.00.   I was sort of stunned.  Large ship, she said it had about a ft. of clearance on either side - Still, thats a lotta moola.........

[Furby]

Megastructures on the Discovery Channel did a show on the Panama Canal.
They said that the fees are as high as $250,000.
Smaller ships pay less and ships in a hurry pay a premium for getting through faster.

[Tom]

Yes, it's definitely based on the size of the ship.  I watched a show the other day that said that the least toll paid for the crossing was 40¢.  It was someone who swam through the canal.

[dundee]

You are correct Tom, my brother and crew used the canal 2 weeks ago, the yacht is 6 tons, 60 feet long and with a beam of 7 feet, the cost US$522.50, he was saying that one can calculate the fee via internet using the Canals on-line calculator

Richard

[logwalker]

Hey Dundee, did you really mean to say that your brother's 60 foot yacht had a beam of only 7 feet. That would be something. Joe

[Dana]

 Draft sounds better ;)

[Furby]

I thought draft sounded better as well, but it only weighs 6 tons, so that's a lot of draft.

[dundee]

Maybe I got it wrong  ;D, the SKYPE phone connection was bad, but, I do know it's a 60 footer, and I heard the $$ correctly

Richard

[Quartlow]

considering what it would cost to go around, 149,000 could be a bargain.

[red]

Panama Canal can now take the wider cargo ships . I can only imagine the higher cost and the money saved using the faster route.

[Ron Wenrich]

I went into the canal back in March.  We were on a cruise, and I think the cost was $300,000.  The new canal wasn't open yet, but you could take tours of it. 

I had been there in 2012.  The difference in the amount of containers being docked, then shipped by rail to the other side has been dramatically reduced.  Here is what the many docks looked like in March, 2012.     

 

This isn't the exact same dock, but they all looked like this in March, 2016.   

 

I'm not sure if it's a reflection of the worldwide economy, or simply the anticipation of the canal opening.  The official opening was yesterday June 26, but they started traffic on June 9.  The size and amount of cargo those ships take is simply amazing.

[LeeB]

Shipping is slow right now, or at least that's what my employer, Maersk, is saying. I work in the drilling division, but Maersk's main operation is shipping.

[Cedarman]

One of the big boats that can now use the canal can carry 9000 containers.  180,000 tons if all are loaded to 20 tons each.  Don't know how much weight the ship can carry.
Oil shipments are down.
On another note, eating at fast food and fast casual restaurants is down.  Does all this mean we are heading into recession?
Is China shipping less also?
The canal is years late getting open and with huge cost over runs.  The canal is 40% of Panamas GDP.
Interesting.

[red]

To ship a container from NYC to California it goes by rail to Chicago . Then comes off the train because there is a tunnel containers can not fit thru. Goes by truck for one day then back on rail to California . Its the trucking industry that does not want this to change.

[LeeB]

Shipping is down from China according to the monthly news letter I get from Maersk.

[Chuck White]

I think it's good that the China shipping is down.

Too much stuff that we buy here is "Made in China"!

I think the worse thing I ever contemplated buying was a U.S. flag, then I notice that it had a tag on it saying "Made in China", I put it back on the shelf.

Just sayin'!

[LeeB]

That just ain't right is it?

[WildlandFirefighter912]

Capitalism at best. Sell off your nation and its people.  :-\

[red]

The way I understand it is containers from the east coast can get to Asia much quicker .

[GrahamW]

There was an interesting programme called 'The Box That Changed Britain' and was the story of containers and container ships.  The interesting nugget was the fact it cost as much to ship a full container from China to the UK as it cost for 2 men and a truck to deliver it to your abode.


Regards

Graham

[Babylon519]

Different canal, but last fall I brought a 35-foot sailboat up the Welland Canal (which joins Lake Erie and Lake Ontario). It's a series of 8 locks over a distance of about 20 miles. I was told the big lake freighters - some of them 700' in length - pay $26,000 for a one-way passage. I paid $240 for my boat, with the understanding that, if a freighter is in the canal, I get sidelined until it passes. Makes cents!  :D   - Jason

[Corley5]

The Soo Locks charged a toll of 3-4 cents per ton from 1855 to 1881.  It's free now.

[repmma]

I always thought the Panama Canal was the bargain compared to the Suez at least in context to what each one is.  Suez doesn't even have any locks, just a big ole ditch in the desert.  Been thru both, Panama much more scenic.  Either way between time and fuel it pays to pay!

[Al_Smith]

 You need to take into consideration  the fact that big ships use bunker c oil measured in tonnage per mile not miles per gallon and they run about 20 knots per hour .I have no idea what a container ship uses but a liner it's something like 2800 gallon per mile .That plus the time involved to round the horn and get back to position as if they had transversed the canal .

[Jeff]

I remember reading in readers digest when I was a kid that the Queen Mary got an equivalent of 12 feet per gallon. That always stuck with me.