Interesting! One of the great engineering marvels of modern man, the Panama Canal's locks lift vessels up 72 feet and then bring them back down again on the other side of the isthmus. You'd be surprised how fast, too - there are three steps on each side, each step takes just EIGHT minutes! In all, it's a 10-hour transit costing the vessel about $35,000 on average (for a container ship), payable by CASH or electronic transfer prior to transit. The canal handles 5% of the world's trade and is the lifeblood of the Panamanian people. Hooray for President Theodore Roosevelt!