In my entire lifetime I may not be able to go to Panama and experience this, but darn, I'm glad this video exists, the process of crossing is truly amazing! An engineer wonder

The Panama canal is a really impressive feat of engineering. To think that man kind dug a whole river through Panama and created a complex shipping route that the whole world is benefiting now.

6:00 i love that two small ships using the same canal with this ship, and they just cant wait to rush out like my dogs before daily walk

The only thing that would have made this video better was a small map overlay with a dot showing how the ship is crossing over.

I didn't know a video with no sound could be this satisfying.

I'm surprised there are no specifically-defined directional lanes. It's seriously scary watching large and small ships passing each other so closely as they travel in opposite directions. Would love to know what the accident ratio is.

This video needs to be shown in US History classes, even though the Panama Canal is only talked about for 2 minutes. This visual makes it 1 million times more understandable.

I never realised how wide parts of this canal actually are! Im sure they were once natural valleys but it’s incredible to think this whole now wet area is entirely man made!

Tantos comentarios en inglés. Si lo visitas personalmente es el doble de genial. Panamá invirtió y luchó por esto, y ahorita podrá ser lo que sea, pero esto siempre será motivo de orgullo. ¡Que viva mi Panamá!❤❤❤

did anyone notice clouds moving beautifully

This is incredible. A couple months ago we stayed in Panama City and did a time lapse video of a ship going through one of the locks. It’s an impressive operation they have.

I really appreciate you sharing this. At least it's possible to see what it's like to go through it. Back while at school and in sixth grade we got to learn about the Panama Canal. I found the whole matter was amazing, fascinating and intriguing and I thought about for a long time. There were times I had fantasies of going on a cruise that would go through it but with how much that could cost, am not sure of that.

this was actually really cool to watch

Cannot begin to imaging the manpower it took to build the Panama Canal.

This video has satiated my desire to see the Panama Canal for months on end. Next week I am off on a cruise to experience it first hand. Not sure why, but this system of moving ships fascinates me as if I were a child. The fact is was built in the decade of the 1910's, without computers and modern machinery shows what men (and women) can do when they put their minds to accomplish good for the betterment of the people.

My father was a Panama Canal pilot from 1959_1985. I got to transit the canal with him several times. Once on the Pacific Princess. Boy things sure have changed

I actually learned recently that the canal locks are at angles so the force imparted by the larger body of water seals it shut. Apparently Da Vinci had that as an idea too!

The US actually originally considered building it in Nicaragua because of the lake and the San Juan River which would cut down on the digging required. They even did surveys and plans were pretty much underway. So what made them change to Panama? Enter the French. The French already attempted to build a canal in Panama with the help of Ferdinand de Lesseps who also developed the Suez Canal. Attempt because they tried to build it the exact same way they did in Egypt, it didn't work, thousands of workers died and when he realized how the canal should be built, it was too late. Investments ran out, everyone gave up on it and left...except for one man, Philippe Bunau-Varilla. He wanted to earn big bucks on the canal, and did whatever it took. So he persuaded the US, saying that they'd have to worry about a volcano by distributing a Nicaragua stamp with an eruption to Congress, and it worked. But there was a problem, Panama was Colombian at the time, and while Colombia initially supported the French building the canal, the Colombian senate was now against it. This led to the US and Philippe working together, got Panamanians on their side, and began a revolution to break Panama away. To stop a Colombian response to retake it, the US sent its navy to secure the new country. And of course, the US was the first to recognize Panamanian independence

I built the Panama Canal by myself. The government covered up everything and took credit. I did it with one of those beach set ups they sell for kids. The plastic bucket, shovel and rake. That’s the tools I used

Dude, this simply marvelous. You are an angel for filming and uploading this.

I’ve crossed the Panama Canal last year and it’s truly wonderful feeling.

It's videos like these that make me glad the internet exists.

Such a marvel of engineering. I have been fascinated with the Panama Canal since I was a kid. The mass and scope of the project is so huge it’s hard to believe it was accomplished in the short time it took.

The sky, the clouds and the weather is so beautiful

The ship at 4:35 - the "Island Princess" (bigger than the ship we're on) shows the ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM size of vessel (Panamax) that could traverse the Canal before the new locks were opened :-)

We went through the canal on a cruise ship when i was 12 on vacation with my family. At the time, I remember being very bored and to a 12 year old it is quite ugly. I wanted to go back to Costa Rica where there were monkeys and banana trees. I am now 33 and thanks to this video and the wonders of the internet, I can truly appreciate the engineering of the canal.

The thing I really love about this interconnected world today: I can take this video, watch the encapsulated moment from the viewpoint of a ship actually traversing the Panama Canal, and then I can go boot up Google Earth, zoom way in on Panama, and actually chart the course you took through the locks and reservoir, and see satellite images of the exact same places, but from a geological perspective. If like, a teacher had simply shown this video and booted up Google maps, I would have cared significantly more about geography and history when I was actually in school.

Wow 😳 what a great accomplishment of mankind! Kudos to the engineers

Absolutely wonderful! Thank you for the post!

It's counter intuitive that big ships take less time to transit due to displacing more water, requiring less water to equalize the locks. Great video, thank you.

I've done well over a dozen transits...back in the crazy eighties....some new stuff,for sure. This brings back some amazing memories...thanks.

This adds a whole lot of perspective to my old history classes. Out of curiosity, does the direction of transit reverse occasionally? It looks like all 3 lanes go the same way.

The step canals are such a beautiful piece of Engineering! ❤️

Just a little reminder to all people watching right now. These are the old locks, the new and wider ones are completely breathtaking

Fascinating. Thank you for this video. I understand they're working on widening the canal because ships are getting so big that fewer and fewer of them can pass through. Looks like that other Princess ship has just inches on either side

DUDE, this is the best time lapse video showing the entire journey.

That was SO cool to watch! Always wondered what it looked like. Thank you!

Steve Noble - this was an awesome video but you know what would really make it be beyond awesome? If you could show a map of the world zoomed in on the Panama canal with a red-dot indicator of where the ship is positionally on the map as it progresses through the video- that would've been super helpful.

What an amazing feat of engineering! Got to experience the canal passage (from the Pacific to the Atlantic) as birthday gift. Balcony location allowed to us to enjoy the entire 11-hour experience from our room. I will *never* forget that experience. *This video allows me to relive the moments. Thank you!*

I love how it gradually becomes more green/brown as you get closer to the Atlantic

Omg! This video is so cool. Like the next person, I'll probably never get to go to the Panama Canal but watching this video is the next best thing. Thank you so much for allowing me to experience it.

Loved it! I have been thru the canal so this was familiar to me! (And I have also been on the Erie Canal - Wow what a difference!) and also have seen it via ships cams so I really enjoyed this!

Time seems to speed up on the Panama Canal. What an engineering marvel it is.

Muito massa, gostei

Great video that also shows how the wind affects the ships. Thanks for sharing.

So freaking amazing....this is the kind if stuff I like in this world.

What a view of one of the most incredible feats of engineering.

Fun Fact for anyone who finds this. All US naval ships have to be thin enough to fit through the Panama Canal

Watching the giant cruise ship settle into the locks was pretty cool. The whole thing is cool. I didn't get the scale of the whole thing, until a tiny little ant person went to the bow. Speaking of ants, that's what the tugboats looked like; worker ants running around taking care of things, carrying big ships thru their nest like giant bugs they captured to eat.

Truly an engineering marvel. So simple yet so brilliant.

I remember doing this transit in 1998 during my Navy tour on board USS Decatur. I have my "Order of The Ditch" Certificate in a frame on the wall. 🙂

Wow it’s amazing. I watch a documentary on how the canal was built. And the lives that were lost trying to build this

Thanks to your efforts we could witness the complete transit. Thanks a lot.

I honestly am blown away by this. It looks so damn pathetically small on a map, but yet this video makes it seem absolutely massive. The fact that this is all artificially made is just mindblowing.

Honestly this was super cool but it also helped me realise how quickly clouds move

The canal system is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.

Truly amazing - I'm glad this was recommended to me.

I've always wondered exactly what the canal looks like, ever since as a young child I asked a hilariously uninformed question, and my father explained what the canal consisted of. Thankfully, because of where we live, he didn't have to explain what locks were.

My first time seeing a series of lockes in action was along the st lawrence seaway along the NY Canadian border. Absolutely awesome.

¡Que viva Panamá!🇵🇦

El canal de panama... es el orgullo de nosotros como panameños

I've always been fascinated by how things work and canals are one of them since i am not fully sure how they operate. But by this timelaspe, i can get a gist of how it works, thanks lad

que maravilha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was taught a mechanism of canals in the high school history class, but cannot imagine how it goes After watching this,I really got it.

I heard this can sometimes take days to get through! Pretty amazing. Great video

It is so satisfying to watch these massive ships as they pass through the canal!

This was so calming to watch honestly. I wish there was mellow background music though :)

Brings back memories of my trip to Panama.

To cross from one ocean to another takes only hours. That is amazing.

Неразу не видел и не мог представить,как это работает👍

very cool to watch the canal in action. But also a little terrifying to watch what I imagine is a cruise ship speeding along the waterways. Timelapse can be scary!

This was really amazing! Thanks!

Im honored to live in Panamá, its beautiful. :')

Soy de panama y quedo muy bonito :"3

I like how the lake in between is like a massive pool for the ships to play and have fun :)

What an amazing feat of engineering

Музыкального сопровождения не хватает, а так - очень здорово.

That was great video! Thanks for posting, I was stationed at Howard AFB in 1972-73 and lived in the city. Never saw the Bridge of Americans from this angle but crossed it every day.

Thank you for posting this. So many people will never see it in person.

Transiting Panama Canal is definitely a great experience! The time lapse shows it perfectly! My most memorable experience from Panama is a thunderstorm with so intensive rain that the droplets from it entered in our bridge. We also had almost no visibility and had to drop an anchor. This happened just before Gatun Locks (4:12).

What a coincidence. I just read an advertisement a few days ago about a cruise from California to florida, and I knew they had to go through the Panama canal. And I was thinking about how cool it would be to go through the Panama canal. And two days later, lo and behold, here is this video. I'm about to watch it now and enjoy a accelerated trip through the Panama canal from the Pacific Ocean to the gulf of mexico. How cool. After watching, I never realized how many open areas there were; I thought it was just a narrow straight canal all the way across. Interesting.

When I was a kid and a teen in the 90s and early 00s, my teachers only taught us that the Panama Canal was a cut they made in Panama so the ships don't have to go around South America, so they created a short cut. So all my life, I thought that it was just a cut, that they divided Panama and build a narrow river. Now I learned that is by levels, so they raise the sea levels.... Hard to explain, and more complicated than I thought.

Wow, I just learned these locks were a thing today and these are impressive builds.

That is so cool! I have always wanted to cross the Panama Canal.

Never understood lock mechanism till I saw this video...12 hr transit shown in 6 months.. Thanks for the great work...love from India.

Pretty cool and pretty sketchy, unlike the ground the water is always moving so you really gotta be careful in such a tight area. Props to the captain and lookouts etc

Man everyone knows about it but it's cool to finally see how the Panama Canal actually looks like and works!

I was stationed in Ft Kobbe Panama 12/89-12/90, such a beautiful Country but never had an opportunity to see the canal except from the Bridge of Americas. Thanks for this video Sir.

It was so satisfying to watch and beautiful at the same time...👍🏽👍🏽

Pretty awesome! Thanks for sharing this!

what an informative video! Amazing and a lot of help for my studies! Thank you man!

Mi Panamá Hermoso🇵🇦🇵🇦

This makes me wanted to go on a sea adventure 😍

I'm reading a book that mentions the canal and wanted to see it. This was a great tour. Thanks for posting.

I wonder how long it takes when it’s not time lapse. That was an awesome video!

I feel peaceful watching this. Thanks for your video!

Panamá 🇵🇦 mi hermosa patria ❤️ 💙

Mother worked for Disney Cruise Lines for over 20 years and I never knew it was like 3 different canals. Always just thought it was one, but really cool and pretty upset I never got to take a cruise through it. Don’t think anyone can ever now with this damn pandemic, cruises are a thing of the past.

Outstanding application of fluid mechanics concept in making this waterway.Power of Engineer 🔥💪

отличное видео ! интересно и познавательно . Спасибо