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Panama Canal marks century of international trade

2014-08-16 27 Dailymotion

Featuring a military band, traditional dance display and a cake weighing 230 kilograms, a party has been held to mark the 100th anniversary of the Panama Canal.<br /><br />Paying tribute to one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the canal’s administrator Jorge Quijano said the canal was operating at maximum capacity.<br /><br />“Today, as we can see, the route continues to work without delays. Today is a normal working day and each day, an average of 35 vessels reduce their distance travelled between the Atlantic and the Pacific,” he said.<br /><br />Since it was finished in 1914, the 71 kilometre long waterway has transformed international trade.<br /><br />Ships have a 20 to 30 hour trip along the canal, but the alternative – around the tip of South America – is treacherous and takes much longer.<br /><br />A 3.5 billion euro extension project is underway to allow much larger vessels to pass. However it has been delayed by disputes over the escalating cost.<br /><br />The original Panama Canal took 13 years to complete and an estimated 30,000 workers died building it, many from malaria and yellow fever.

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