# Who controls the Panama Canal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 30, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-controls-the-panama-canal/247830 "2004-05-30T20:14:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Starguard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Starguard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starguard)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-controls-the-panama-canal/247830/1 "2004-05-30T20:14:41Z")
I’m sitting here watching this show on the Discovery Channel about the Panama Canal when they made a questionable statement. They said that the Panama Canal is the only place on earth where a Captain has to surrender the command of his ship in order to get through. The operators are the only people authorized to pilot a vessel through the canals locks. Does this law also apply to military vessels. I can remember once watching another show caled “Fly Navy” where they actually steered an Aircraft Carrier through there. I can’t imagine any Admiral of any nation surrendering the command of his vessel for any reason. Anyone here know anything more about this? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-controls-the-panama-canal/247830/2 "2004-05-30T20:27:38Z")
Not sure about the question in your OP (I guess they need the pilot to surrender to people more skilled at taking the vessel through) but in answer to the title, I believe it was recently handed over to the control/ownership of Panama from USA. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-controls-the-panama-canal/247830/3 "2004-05-30T20:38:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Who controls the Panama Canal? The Giant, Extraterrestrial Love Crickets. 'Nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-controls-the-panama-canal/247830/4 "2004-05-30T20:41:14Z")
Seamen will have to massage this if it’s wrong, but I believe that any time a certified pilot is aboard a ship, US Navy notwithstanding, for the purpose of bringing the ship into a harbor where such piloting is needed, the pilot is in full command of the operation. The ship’s captain can only stand aside and watch. So I don’t think having the canal pilots commaning ships through the canal is at all unusual. There has to be _one_ commander. If a pilot is needed it would be the height of foolishness to allow his orders in operating the vessel to be overturned by even an Admiral who is unfamiliar with the particular waters being navigated. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-controls-the-panama-canal/247830/5 "2004-05-30T20:47:06Z")
[Canal regulations](http://www.pancanal.com/eng/legal/reglamentos/). The regs are in PDF format. > [@](#): > > Chapter V > > Pilotage > > Section One > Compulsory Pilotage > > Article 90: Pilotage is compulsory in Canal waters. The Authority shall determine the number of pilots assigned to each vessel navigating in Canal waters, including the ports of Cristobal and Balboa, pursuant to the provisions of the annex. > Article 91: Authority vessels, tugs and other floating equipment are exempted from compulsory pilotage. > Article 92: The pilot assigned to a vessel shall have control of the navigation and movement of such a vessel. > Article 93: The assigned pilot shall board the vessel within the breakwater north of the Mole Beacon, at the Atlantic entrance, and in the anchorage to seaward of buoys 1 and 2, at the Pacific entrance. > Article 94: Vessels arriving at the Atlantic entrance may be boarded before entering the > breakwater, at the request of the interested party, in accordance with the requirements set forth in the annex. > Article 95: Small crafts less than 20 meters (65 feet) in length shall be assigned a traffic advisor, who will function as an advisor to the crew, providing knowledge of the Canal operating area, and procedures to follow. Only under special circumstances shall these vessels be assigned a Panama Canal pilot. > Article 96: Small crafts of more than 20 meters (65 feet), shall require a pilot. > Article 97: The Authority may suspend the rule on compulsory pilotage whenever there is a critical shortage of certified Panama Canal Authority pilots. For this, it will impose such conditions as are necessary with respect to any given vessel, to protect human life, the environment and the property and facilities of the Panama Canal. > > Section Two > Exemptions from Compulsory Pilotage in the Ports > > Article 98: The Authority shall determine the vessels and small crafts categories that may be exempted from compulsory pilotage in the ports. > Article 99: Vessels or small crafts exempted from compulsory pilotage must comply with the operation requirements specified in the annex, as the case may be. > Article 100: Small vessels anchored in Anchorage Area F may proceed to sea without a Canal pilot on board, prior permission by the Authority to depart. However, vessels anchored in Anchorage Area C shall require a Canal pilot to this effect. > Article 101: Pilotage for vessels in transit through the Canal is included in the tolls. Should a vessel require a pilot for other than transit, she shall assume the corresponding pilotage charges. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-controls-the-panama-canal/247830/6 "2004-05-30T21:14:59Z")
**Otto** has it right. In other places, the pilot basically only advises the ship’s master. In the Panama Canal, the pilot takes temporary command. [Here](http://www.maritimeadvocate.com/i5_pana.htm) (bottom of second column): > [@](#): > > “But the canal and its environs are not just another port,” says Luis Shirley. “If the legislation is ratified, it would mean that pilots will no longer be able to offload their liability as employees of the commission. This is complicated further because, unlike other ports where the pilot exists in an advisory capacity to the ship’s master, Panama Canal pilots take total responsibility for vessels transiting. In effect, they take temporary command of the vessel when it is in canal waters.” The surrender of command on a military vessel would presumably only apply to navigation. The pilot can’t order the ship to open fire on another, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-controls-the-panama-canal/247830/7 "2004-05-30T21:19:51Z")
[Here’s](http://wwwnt.cnet.navy.mil/cls/CO%20assignment_4.htm) some more, based on Navy regulations: > [@](#): > > 1. Pilotage. > 2. The commanding officer shall: > > a. pilot the ship under all ordinary circumstances, but may employ pilots whenever, in his or her judgment, such employment is prudent; > . . . > > 1. A pilot is merely an advisor to the commanding officer. The presence of a pilot on board shall not relieve the commanding officer or any subordinate from his or her responsibility for the proper performance of the duties with which he or she may be charged concerning the navigation and handling of the ship. **For an exception to the provisions of this paragraph, see “Rules and Regulations Covering Navigation of the Panama Canal and Adjacent Waters,” which directs that the pilot assigned to a vessel in those waters shall have control of the navigation and movement of the vessel.** Also see the provisions of these regulations concerning the navigation of ships at a naval shipyard or station, or in entering or leaving drydock. Bolding mine