Panama Canal Crisis Impacts on Global Trade, Historical Background, and Potential Solutions Revealed

Panama Canal Crisis: Impacts on Global Trade, Historical Background, and Potential Solutions Revealed

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Overview of Panama Canal

You are seeing these thousands of ships loaded with goods in the middle of the sea, you are standing waiting, but for what, when will the way be cleared and you will be able to proceed to your destination, this view is of a very precious route of the Atlantic Ocean. Which is taking its last breath today, this is the Panama Canal, that canal which has been an essential shipping route for all the countries for almost 110 years.

Importance of Panama Canal

It is through this passage that about 5% of the world’s maritime trade takes place and about 40% of the USA’s maritime trade also takes place through this passage. It is possible but now this canal is choking and may even get closed in a few days.

Historical Background and Construction Challenges

Yes, understand that the last days of this canal connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean are going on, but all the questions are here. This is how this can happen. How can this canal, which has been connecting West America with Europe and Africa for years, be ruined and if this really happens then what will be its impact on India.

Ferdinand Lessis and the Initial Challenges

See these problems arising regarding the Panama Canal. It is not a new phenomenon but its roots take us back 150 years to France. This is the France of 150 years ago which was going through social political changes. New personalities and diplomats were emerging here and one of them It was Ferdinand Lessis who not only got immense fame in the world due to his ability but he also built 18690, which reduced the trade tension of the whole world to a great extent, so it was a miracle of this canal that now the Mediterranean Sea is a canal.

Construction Challenges and Human Cost

It has been connected to the Red Sea through a short route and hence now there was no need to cross Africa to reach Asia from America. Ferdinand was being hailed all over the world and he also did not want to stop after this massive success. They thought why not adopt the same model and build a canal between North America and South America which would connect the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

Delay and Financial Crisis

In fact, this was the period when ships sailing from the coast of East America were allowed to reach the Western Coast and Asia. To reach India, one had to travel through the entire South American continent, which was a distance of 20,000 km. Now it was clear that there was scope for building a small route here, which could solve a big problem of trade routes, so Ferdinand They had already recognized the problem and they thought that like the Swiss Canal, by using the magic of his talent, he would be able to build the Panama Canal easily, but as they say, what you wish for does not always come true, something similar happened here too.

American Takeover and Construction Strategy

When the plan in mind was combined with reality, then everything went wrong. They had thought that they would blow up the thin part connecting North and South on the map with dynamite and start building their new canal with it, but Now actually when he went to work here, the matter got complicated. This part of South America was such a well where the deadly combination of mountains, rivers, lakes, and forests could be seen. Storms used to come here frequently, because of this it was not only unpredictable. It used to rain, in fact even a small dynamite explosion resulted in massive land sliding, meaning by the time a problem was solved, a new pile of debris would form, which would take hours to clean. Now, due to this major problem, Ferdinand had fired many of his capable workers one after the other and the bigger problem was that yellow fever was spreading very fast among the people in that area, hence people working on the site fell ill every day and the project got delayed. Brother, it took 8 years to clear the site for the Panama Canal and in this process about 20,000 workers lost their lives.

American Success and Economic Impact

You can say that this canal was built on the blood and sacrifice of thousands of workers. And due to such huge losses and financial crunch, the investors pulled out of this project, they stopped funding and also withdrew from whatever help was being sent to Ferdinand. It was obvious that such a big shock had completely bankrupted Ferdinand. They also stopped the work and the work on this project remained stalled for 14 years. Before knowing what happened next, let us tell you that by collaborating with Arteria, we have brought for you this beautiful picture of Shri Ram and Mata Sita. A charming image that will fill your life with love, happiness, and peace. To buy it now, you can click on the link given in the description and also get a discount of Rs. 10 by using the coupon code # 10. Well, come back.

American Takeover and Completion

Coming to the story, see again the year 1903, when Panama gained independence from Colombia with the support of America, in return Capitis America also took the canal site from Panama on lease for 100 years. In fact, then the race for America’s development gained momentum. He had an idea that if he wants to move ahead then Panama Canal is an important ace for him. It can not only strengthen America economically but can also strengthen its position in the world geo-politically. Just with this thought. America again started working on the Panama Canal in 1904 and this time they worked with a new strategy.

Challenges and Innovative Solutions

In fact, they thought that instead of clearing the entire land, why not cut the mountains a little from above and divide the area. If it is filled with water, they will put locks here so that the ship can be raised and lowered. Actually, the locks work in such a way that by increasing or decreasing the water in them, the ships can be moved up and down. Due to these locks, the ships can move from one ocean to another. With this intention in mind, America deployed 40,000 workers on this project. Apart from this, many tractors, cranes, and equipment were also deployed for this work. However, it was not easy for these workers to convert this project from dream to reality. But after going through many challenges, American workers worked day and night on this project and after 10 years, this wonder was built. When this project was opened in front of everyone on April 15, 1914, the whole world appreciated it. This was such a sample of engineering that could become the king of many shipping routes in the future. The whole world was seeing the technique and technology used in it for the first time and the amazing thing was that two artificial lakes were constructed in this canal. Whose work was to fill water in the Panama Canal and it knew how to carry out its work in the best possible way.

Human and Economic Cost of Construction

Now you know how much money America had spent on this project, a total of 375 million dollars. Just think even at that time. America had so much money and in making it, America also lost 5000 of its workers, which they had already expected because its history itself

told that how difficult this project was going to be. Well, the important thing is that today through this canal America is also benefiting, a big profit of Panama itself comes from this part and if we look at the figures, a fee ranging from 10000 to $3 lakh is charged from the ships passing through this route and sometimes even during the season. According to this, this price is also doubled.

Climate Change Impact and Current Challenges

Now you can imagine how important this canal is for America and Panama and the countries which are paying this fee, it is definitely important for them also because a large quantity Raw material is brought in through these routes and if this shipping is stopped even for a moment, then how big a loss can be caused. Perhaps this is the reason why the subject of the Panama Canal being destroyed or in trouble is scary for everyone. It is a dream.

Drought and Water Crisis

Now the question arises that what happened to this canal which has been operating for so many years? After all, which is the region due to which export-import in all the countries has suffered such a big blow? Actually, this problem is related to some natural calamity. It is not, but the real fault is in its construction itself. As we had told that to build this canal, instead of removing the entire land, the American engineers had only cut the mountains from above and filled the water and let us tell you that now the fault lies in this thing.

Proposed Solutions and Potential Impact on Global Business

Actually, in this process, two artificial lakes were created to fill the canal with water, the first is Gat Lake and the second is Lake Ala Jewel. Due to these, water comes into the canal and due to water, sea ships are allowed to pass through the lock. Now the problem is that the water wasted in this process is very high. Earlier the advantage was that by nature there was a lot of rainfall in Panama and hence one did not have to think much about the wastage of water but Now the matter has taken a 360 degree turn. While the impact of climate change is being seen all over the world, it has had the biggest impact in Panama also. The situation is such that the level of rainfall here every year has reduced considerably.

Impact on Global Trade and India

The first glimpse was seen in Panama only in 2016, but in the year 2019, the situation became so bad that there was a severe drought in Panama, due to water crisis, the water in the natural water lakes also reduced and the Panama Canal was also not untouched by this. Overall, the water has become so low that it has become very difficult for ships to pass through here. Even the higher authorities were scared for once but then later they found a solution to this problem, under this they imposed cargo restrictions on Panama. Easy language. If I say, the ship was advised to carry less cargo so that it would be easier to sell the ship at low weight, although this was done for some time, but by the year 2023, the situation became so bad that the authority decided to do so. A daily restriction was imposed that not more than 32 ships will pass through here every day and as a result of this, now the Panama Canal has to face a big jam and it is having a big impact on the global business.

Potential Long-term Solutions and Challenges

Authorities And many businesses are thinking that this problem can be solved in the long run but the reality shows that the authorities do not have any solution to the lack of rain. There was a very bad drought here in 1953 and after that now The year 2023 was the second driest year in Panama. To ensure that such a situation does not happen again, agencies are working somewhere and they have introduced a plan that why not build another dam in the west of this canal so that 8 km of water can be created. Lake Toon should be connected through an underground tunnel. If this is done, then it is expected that the drying lake can be saved, but right now this plan has been kept only in discussion that it will take time to take any decision on it and if it is Even if it is executed, it will be as challenging as building the Panama Canal and on top of all this, it will take almost two and a half years to build it, but it is worth thinking that till then, why will the ships just stand there waiting for their turn? Well, they will not keep waiting, the other option left for them is to cross South America completely. This route comes within the Arctic region and ever since the ice has started melting, it becomes easy for sea ships to cross this route. And hence this route is going to be a game-changer for many countries but the problem with it is that it is very time-consuming, it takes a lot of time for the ships to go from here but what can be done, obviously like -As the problems increase, their solutions will also be found, but now the question arises whether the destruction of the Panama Canal will have any impact on India? Well yes, because Panama is India’s biggest trade partner in Central America, according to the Economic Times report. It is known that in the year 2022, there was a trade of $10 million dollars between Panama and India. Also, when there was a water crisis in 2023, many vessels of India got stuck in this canal. In such a situation, it is clear that Panama Crisis is a world crisis and Everyone may have to bear the consequences of its destruction. What is your opinion on this?

1 comment

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