Tanker Spills Oil During Panama Canal Transit
The Panama Canal Authority (PCA) forced a Greek-registered tanker to abandon a transit of the Panama Canal on April 18 after waterway workers noticed the ship was leaking crude oil. PCA employees spotted that the 749-ft. Antipoli was leaking oil through two half-inch holes in its hull during a southbound transit of Gatun Locks. The vessel was anchored in Lake Gatun to enable PCA firemen to make temporary repairs, while the ship's operators transferred oil to a separate tank to prevent further seepage. The PCA is investigating the cause of the spillage, which did not affect waterway operations.
Panama Canal's Locks Stand Test Of Time
The man-made chasm, large enough to swallow the Titanic whole, yawns before him. To reach the bottom takes an elevator, a hard hat and no fear of heights. But for Ivan Lasso, superintendent of the Panama Canal's Pacific locks, entering the void is all in a day's work. The huge 85-year-old lock chambers need a routine overhaul. When the locks were hand-poured in 1913, they were the largest reinforced concrete structures ever, allowing engineers to dream up skyscrapers they would later build in Manhattan. Tall as a six-story building, the 700-ton riveted steel Miter gates - 88 in all in the 50-mile (82 km) canal's three flights of locks - established Pittsburgh as a steel town.