Although Nicaragua has plans to build an interoceanic canal and Guatemala is planning a road that connects its main commercial ports on the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, the Panama Canal remains the only gate for ships to go from one ocean to another through America. It turned 99 on Thursday, as expansion work is under way, leading into the centenary.
Panama has achieved 60 percent of the required funds to expand the canal’s capacity up to 12,000 containers (three times the current capacity). At least five percent of world trade uses this route which grosses more than US$1.1 billion annually for Panama.
Source: Tico Times. Read More »