The Panama Canal is a ship canal which joins the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken. The first attempt to construct the canal was in 1880 under French leadership but this attempt failed and around 22,000 workers died. The project was pursued by the United States in the early 1900s, with the canal opening in 1914. It is estimated that over 80,000 took part in the construction and that over 30,000 lives were lost in both French and American efforts to complete the 77km canal.

Since the start of the its operation the impact on shipping between the two oceans had been enormous, replacing the long and treacherous route via the Drake Passage and Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America. A ship sailing from New York to San Francisco via the canal travels 9,500 km , well under half the 22,500 km route around Cape Horn.

I am a merchant mariner and I regularly pass through the canal but I never had the chance to take some decent photos in the past until recently when I decided to purchase a DSLR camera. These photos were taken last June 2009. My favorite one is the night shot of the Gatun Locks with its gates about to open.