Online Video Guide

Every day ships the size of a city block transport goods through the Panama Canal, one of the world's most vital waterways. For almost a century, it has permitted almost every type of ship imaginable to make the fifty mile shortcut to sail between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. But today ships are being turned away because they're just too big. So Panama has asked a team of European and American engineers to compete for a winning lock design. If the Canal is built anew, what are the dangers and what are the costs? Panama needs a larger canal. The risks of transiting the existing one are becoming too high. The maximum size ships have only inches to spare in the aging lock chambers. The route through the mountains is fraught with hazardous twists and turns. Landslides are a constant threat. If a ship had an accident in the Canal it could stop world trade. A new Panama Canal will once again make Panama the maritime center for world shipping.