The Panama Canal Review CANAL COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC by NATIONALITY PRINCIPAL COMMODITIES SHIPPED THROUGH the CANAL Inswen Pacific to Atlantic
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UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LIBRARIES Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/panamacanalrevie148pana ON THE INSIDE More Electric Power A Summit Meeting At the Races fP^ I Clri3 Vol. 14, No. 8 MARCH 1964 9U -30 05 0\(] 1 Robert Fleming, J. Jr., Governor-President Robert D. Kerr, Press Officer David S. Parker, Lieutenant Governor Publications Editors aJa^ Richard D. Peacock and Julio E. Frank A. Baldwin Briceno Panama Canal Information 0£Bcer Editorial Assistants Official Panama Canal Publication Eunice Richard, Tobi Bittel, and Published monthly at Balboa Heights, C.Z. TOMAS A. CUPAS Printed at the Printing Plant, La Boca, C.Z. Distributed free of charge to all Panama Canal Employees Couex ukeme: ZJtan^pottation U out Pxincipal Su3ine^3 THIS MONTH'S REVIEW cover theme-transportation-reflects the principal business of the Panama Canal organization. The ship at the bottom is s\ mbolic of the great flow of world commerce through the Canal. Statistics on pages 4 and 5 tell the story in numbers and tons, but not in terms of people. Without question, millions the world over enjoy a higher standard of hving, brought about in part by the more rapid and less costly transit of raw materials and finished products through the Panama Canal. The continuation and improvement of Canal efficiency is the main purpose of those who it, operate which is another way of saying "transportation is our business." And the ship also represents the many smaller boats-launches, tugs and even rowboats-that serve the Canal, directly and indirectly, in aiding the larger ships in transit. In the center is the historic Panama Railroad and at the top is the Las Cruces, the familiar tour boat. » o o THE PANAMA RAILROAD, rich in the fabric of Canal history and a vital link across the Isthmus for more than a centur\-, continues to provide a daily service linking the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the Canal Zone. The route of the railroad is through a verdant, water-dappled countryside. Often it parallels the Canal. Through the windows of the rattling train on the 90-minute trip the traveler sees a panorama of beauty-streams, wooded glens, Gatun Lake dotted with arching tree limbs, and great expanses of the Canal. The train carries out Its \ital function of transportation along one of the most scenic routes to be found. a e e AT THE TOP is the familiar tour boat. Las Cruces. It has carried thousands of tour- ists, visiting ofiBcials and area residents on trips through Gaillard Cut and into Gatun Lake since the little boat began operation in 1961. It has proven a success in familiar- izing people, during partial Canal transits, with the overall operation of the Canal and the relationship of various parts of the Canal. Its passengers have ranged from hi^h ranking diplomats and officials to groups of school children. Thousands of tourists from over the world have taken home with them the storv of the Panama Canal after a Las Cruces trip and locks a tour. This helps to create an understanding of the Canal and its service to peoples throughout the world. Index The British Royal Yacht Britannia, shown in Miraflores Locks on her trip early this Meet the Captain 3 month through the Canal. The 412-foot Canal Traffic, Transists, Trade 4 luxurj' vessel, accompanied by the Royal Curimdu's New School q Navy tanker Wave Prince, was on her way At the Races 7 from the South Sea Islands to Jamaica A Summit Meeting where she is expected to meet the Queen g Mother Elizabeth. The Britannia docked More Electric Power 10 in Balboa in 1959 when Prince Phillip Port of Baltimore __ n visited the Lsthmus. She went southbound without stopping Shipping .'//_[ 12 in 1902 and again in January. She carries a crew of 275. Anniversaries __ 23 Promotions, Transfers I4 Canal History _ jg MahCH 1964 The Hand at the Helm Of World's Longest Liner CAPTAIN JOSEPH ROPARS, com- with the compulsory military training mandant of the SS France, the longest recjuired of every boy in France. hner in the world, is no stranger to the Eighteen months later, and now a Panama Canal. He made his initial licensed mate, he landed a job on a Panama Canal transit 27 years ago on freighter bound for the Far East. In his first assignment with the French between watches he studied for a radio Line. Many transits followed over the operator's certificate, which he received years. Now with promotion to the helm in 1934. of the France he can only sit aboard his At the age of 25 he obtained his ship and look at the Canal. His ship, Master's ticket and a few months later, 1,0.35 feet long and with a 110-foot in 1937, he joined the French Line. breadth, is too big to squeeze through His first assignment took him through the locks. The SS France even extends the Panama Canal to the west coast bevond the Cristobal docks by a number of the United States. of feet— and the Cristobal docks are He was a junior mate on the more than 1,000 feet long. SS Normandie when World War 11 Although he now treads soft carpets erupted. He left that ship tied up in and is commandant of one of the most New York and worked through the war magnificent liners afloat. Captain Ropars as second mate or chief mate on a series Captain Ropars aboard the SS France. vividly recalls his initiation in a sea of freighters. His luck held, for he was for travel, he says, led never torpedoed, but he doesn't even career. A yen But in 1947 he went to sea again and on the Madonna bound want to think about the bad times of him to sign SS in 1952 he became a captain. of Africa, out of 1943 nor the many convoys in which for the west coast In 1961 he was assigned to supervise, 35 years ago. Hard he traveled. Marseilles, some as staff captain, the completion of the Home ashore beckoned after the work on deck and in the cargo holds SS France and he has sailed this vessel sightseeing war days. He had been away from his awaited him, instead of the since she was commissioned. He was envisioned. After a year he wife and two children for 5 years and he had staff captain and relief captain until position was attractive. He transferred to another vessel that trav- a teaching September 1962 when Capt. Georges the asked for a professorship in hydrog- elled to South America and then to Croisile retired and he was given raphy and taught for 2 years in the Far East. command of the SS France. at the age of 20, Merchant Marine Academy at Nantes, In October 1931, "1 still like teaching," he admits and to comply France. he entered the French Navy owns to authorship of three textbooks on radar, the gyrocompass, and the The SS France is the world's longest liner and one of tthe most luxurious passenger ships ships. ever built. It measures 1,035 feet in length and has a 110 foot beam. Though too wide for stability of merchant terminus. Canal Transit, it recently docked at Cristobal for a visit to the Atlantic-side Captain Ropars' daughter, Lydia, 13, wanted to follow in her father's foot- A steps and be captain of a ship. Con- vinced finally that she should choose another career, she's studying in France •• -* to be a pediatrician. His son, Alain, turned to mathematics instead of the sea and now is studying for his doctorate at the Sorbonne. Superlatives are easily employed when speaking of the SS France, for the vessel has the largest theater afloat the largest dining room on the high seas, and the longest air-conditioning cable and conduit network. Some of the requirements for a round trip transatlantic crossing are, for instance: 15 tons of meat, ZVz tons of poultry, 5y2 tons of fish, 30 tons of potatoes and vegetables, 15 tons of fresh fruit, 70,000 eggs, 3 tons of cheese, 254,000 napkins and 94 tons of linens. The SS France is the third trans- (See p. 12) The Panama Canal Review CANAL COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC BY NATIONALITY PRINCIPAL COMMODITIES SHIPPED THROUGH THE CANAL inswen Pacific to Atlantic (All cargo figures in long tons) Second Quarter, Fiscal Year 1964 It Depends Commodity 1964 1963 Average 1951-55 Ores, various 1,600,191 1,845,254 Lumber 1,033,433 914,935 875,659 880,696 Petroleum and products (excludes asphalt) 521,041 575,719 On a Number Wheat 149,132 479,875 113,073 439,626 Sugar 494,633 598,046 205,431 Canned food products 264,466 264,583 327,338 Nitrate of soda 191,175 168,545 327,635 Fishmeal . 246,685 252,397 Of Factors Bananas 326,387 249,480 199,495 Metals, various 280,395 276,307 184,663 Food products in refrigeration (except fresh fruit) 228,413 224,456 125,660 Coffee No figures have been released, but it 94,245 98,424 55,757 Pulpwood is an accepted fact that a dependable 117,408 102,450 46,525 Iron and steel manufactures 240,090 216,169 capacity of 43 ships per day, which was 47,896 Coke 93,097 1,528 stated in the organization's 1960 study, All others 1,381,084 1,370,832 767,095 is substantially below the capability of Total 7,474,120 ',232,922 4,790,382 the Canal when planned improvements are complete.