OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVED EFFICIENCY AND REDUCED CO2 EMISSIONS IN DRY BULK SHIPPING STEMMING FROM THE RELAXATION OF THE PANAMAX BEAM CONSTRAINT

In 2014 the Panama Canal Authority is scheduled to bring into commission new locks that will eliminate the long standing Panamax beam constraint of 32.2m. The expansion of the canal is aimed at increased capacity for container transits but will clearly have consequences for all types of vessel. There is an emerging demand for dry bulk carriers that are larger than the current Panamax limit of around 85,000 dwt but smaller than the Capesize class of around 160,000 dwt and the expansion of the canal will facilitate this development. Larger vessels will permit economies of scale and greater efficiency in the dry bulk shipping sector compared to what is currently possible with conventional Panamax ships. The relaxation of the constraint will additionally permit the development of more efficient hull forms than is possible within the existing beam constraint and the expansion of the Panama Canal’s locks will therefore (eventually) contribute directly to the reduction of CO2 produced by dry bulk shipping. The use of the Panamax constraint is far wider than the dry bulk sector, however, and the potential for reduction in carbon emissions for other sectors currently constrained to 32.2m beam is recommended for further study to evaluate the total carbon reduction ‘windfall’ that could result from the expansion of the Canal.

Panama’s economy is poised for dramatic rebound

Significance Mining and quarrying activities (728%), construction (489%), hotels and restaurants (92%), transport and communications (29.8%) and trade (23.9%) were the main drivers of growth, boosted by an easing of mobility restrictions and stronger global trade flows. Impacts The 'Pandora Papers' investigation will cast further doubt on Panama’s anti-money laundering efforts. Large social and economic disparity between the Panama Canal area and the rest of the country will continue to hinder development. The Darien Gap is increasingly becoming a migration bottleneck which will necessitate international cooperation, especially with Colombia. Service activities related to the expansion of the Panama Canal will support growth in the coming years. Higher import demand boosted by economic recovery will weigh on external accounts this year.

William Crawford Gorgas and the Panama Canal

This chapter relates how yellow fever continued to cause casualties during the US occupation after the Spanish-American War ended and how Major William Crawford Gorgas created a successful strategy to eliminate the disease from Cuba by attacking mosquito breeding sites. It goes on to tell the story of the plan to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, proposed earlier that century, with the Panama Railroad transporting military goods and soldiers, plus those seeking gold in California. A canal was proposed, but the first, French effort to build it cost hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of workers’ lives lost before capitulating to yellow fever in 1889. Subsequent US construction, begun in 1904, was soon threatened by disease. When Colonel Gorgas brought his yellow fever control plan to Panama he faced criticism from his superiors but gained the support of President Theodore Roosevelt. The chapter relates how his plan, though seemingly improbable, worked, defeating yellow fever, saving countless lives, and allowing the completion of the canal.

The expeditions of the research yacht Utowana and the building of the plant living collections of the oldest botanical garden of Cuba

Cienfuegos Botanical Garden is the oldest functioning botanical institution of Cuba. It was established originally as a joint endeavor between sugar magnate Edwin F. Atkins and Harvard University in 1901. Between 1925 and 1934, the research yacht Utowana performed ample plant germplasm collections for the USDA in the New and Old World as well as archeological and zoological surveys in the Neotropics. The botanical expeditions were conducted mostly, under the leadership of David Fairchild. In this contribution we review to what extent Utowana expeditions and collections were instrumental in building the living collections of Cienfuegos Botanical Garden. A total of 278 accessions (comprising 254 species) were introduced into this garden directly or indirectly through these expeditions. Currently 57 of these species (132 individuals) are still part of its living collections. Interestingly, five of the Caribbean expeditions of this research yacht carried plant material between the Cienfuegos Botanical Garden and two other botanic gardens that were operated by US entities, namely the Lancetilla Botanical Garden in Honduras (owned by the United Fruit Company) and the Summit Gardens in Panama City (managed by the Panama Canal governmental agency). Our study also shows that plant material collected during Utowana expeditions was sent from Old World and Caribbean Island botanic gardens to Cienfuegos Botanical Garden. Thomas Barbour, director of this botanical institution between 1927 and 1946 joined four of these plant hunting endeavors. He provided strong support for the growing of the Cienfuegos Botanical Garden living collections with plant material collected during Utowana expeditions.