How Gigantic Ships Cross the Panama Canal – How the Panama Canal Works

Every year, over 14,000 ships make one of the most incredible journeys in modern engineering: crossing the Panama Canal. But this isn’t just sailing through a ditch. These massive vessels have to be lifted 85 feet straight up, floated across a man-made lake, and lowered back down to sea level on the other side. The whole process takes eight to ten hours and requires precision measured in inches. In this video, we break down exactly how a ship transits the Panama Canal from start to finish.

You’ll see how captains hand over command to specialized canal pilots, how electric locomotives called “mules” guide ships through lock chambers with less than two feet of clearance, and how 26 million gallons of water moves through the system without a single pump. We’ll also explore the hidden crisis threatening the canal’s future: every ship that passes through drains millions of gallons of fresh water straight into the ocean. From the physics of the lock system to the engineering genius of hollow buoyant gates, this is the complete story of how the Panama Canal actually works.