Can Ships Collide?

In a canal they can, the Panama Canal that is. The fog in Gamboa was extremely dense making visibility poor. This resulted in a head on collision of two cargo vessels a little after midnight Tuesday July 24, 2007.

Come on! Don’t tell me you didn’t know that the Panama Canal is a real canal…

The damaged White Mist

How did it happen?

The Investigation

The ACP (Panama Canal Authority) investigations into the accident began today. The hearing went on all day and affected my plans at church. The investigation has kept one of my members from fulfilling a particular task he was assigned. Thankfully, he was not one of the pilots but his job puts him in the middle of the whole story.

Naturally, we all want to know who is responsible. We know the fog is already implicated and is defenseless. The human pilots at the canal had to defend themselves, and perhaps thousands of dollars worth of damage might lead to a convenient bout of amnesia. However, the PanCanal’s Maritime Department accidents investigation process seems like an intense and thorough one. At the end of the day, someone will have to pay.

The damaged Miltiades

I can’t resist..look at this ship closely. Doesn’t it look like a shark’s face with that hole in it?

The Judgment

So who wrecked the ships? Easy answer. That would have to be 2 Panama Canal’s pilots of course. Who else? The Panama Canal is the only place in the world I have heard of, where the captain surrenders his/her ship to the local pilot. The Canal’s pilot sails the ship through the canal and then turns over directing of the vessel back to the Captain.

This is a highly skilled job. Both pilots at “Class H” are very experienced. Thus, a major accident like this takes some doing So yes, we know it was the Canal pilots, but which one is fully responsible is yet to be determined. Someone said it might just be a case of someone claiming that they ‘had the right of way’.

I don’t know, but if the pilots are like the drivers I’ve seen around here. Hmmm…That’s another story. My own experience will tell you something about Panama drivers.

Move Over – Gimme Space

Well this will no doubt raise the discussion on the Panama Canal Expansion plans. The plan to widen the canal to accommodate more modern and wider ships should also involve space for ‘fog negotiation.’ The widening of the canal should allow for those who want to have the right of way and take it. Hopefully there would no longer be any 2 ship collisions in the canal.

Thanks for these lovely photos goes out to Don Winner of Panama Guide fame. Thanks Don!

Until,
Marvia