The World's Shortcut: How the Panama Canal Works

I hope you found this video interesting! If you're looking for more Wendover Productions content, we recently started a podcast called Extremities. It's all about the world's most isolated places with the first season focusing on Pitcairn--the tiny British Overseas Territory in the South Pacific with a population of 50. You can listen to that on any major podcasting app or all the links are here: extremitiespodcast.com/

Now we need a part 2 talking about the Suez Canal

Dang the suez canal sure seems handy, it would be a shame if it was blocked...

Man imagine if one of the world's major shortcuts was blocked!

As a Panamanian its really refreshing to see a video about the canal thats NOT about its history but rather about its modern impact on the world. Didn’t think i’d see it on this channel tho 😂

Theodore Roosevelt: To show you the power of big stick deplomacy I cut panama in Half!!

But what about the PLANES that fly over Panama?

As a Merchant Mariner who passes the Panama Canal regularly, this is the most well explained and detailed video about the waterway for the non-mariners who wants to know more about this topic. Good job making this video! I approve!

Whoa, pretty nonchalantly slipped in 5,600 worker fatalities there.

A Wendover Productions video that isn't about planes Everyone: confused screaming

Panama has great lobbyists to help them have leverage over the Suez Canal. They're all in Somalia.

Literally every single video: “Here’s a bunch of really interesting and engaging information about stuff you’ve probably never thought about. “Also global warming.”

Hello, I really appreciate your effort on making these videos, they are very informative. However, I'd like to make a small suggestion: please could you speak out details instead of using "this" or "that". I'm visually impaired so I have very little idea of what you are showing on the screen. Verbally providing all the numbers and figures explicit would make it much easier for me to understand your contents.

So that's what's taking my package so long to arrive

It's crazy how one relatively small body of water has influence over the entire world economy...

I don't know which fact was more surprising, 5600 worker deaths or the possibility of a million dollar transit fee.

Suez: Where the prices are cheap and the pirates a'plenty.

I went through the canal in 2017 as a line handler on a small yacht. Small boat traffic has to go through at night when the commercial traffic is lighter. A group of yacths meet outside the canal to 'raft up' - tying the boats together for the canal passage. Canal staff throw down monkey balls with lines attached once you are inside the canal. These are wrapped around cleats and four line handlers on each corner of the boat either take in or release the lines to keep the raft in the center when the lock is operated. Otherwise, some boats end up capsizing within the lock when they hit the side. We moored in Lake Gatun for the rest of the night and woke up early when the pilot came on board to navigate through the lake over to the Pacific side. I have lots of pictures of our little boat passing huge Panamax ships. It's a fantastic experience if you ever get the chance to watch the doors close and the water start to bubble all around you.

OverSimplified: Makes a video not about a war Wendover : Makes a video not about planes The world has gone insane

As a Panamanian myself, it is very exciting seeing someone else document the Panama Canal in this very professional format :)