In a few years, it will have been forty years since President Jimmy Carter signed the treaty giving the Panama Canal back to the Panamanians.  Since then, the Panamanian canal management authority has undertaken a massive modernization and expansion project, and by the fortieth anniversary of the treaty, the Canal is expected to be able to lock through some truly huge ships, even Amercan aircraft carriers and the new generation of super-large tankers and container ships.

John Wohlstetter recently locked through the old Canal in a much smaller vessel, and has written THIS update on the goings-on in the formerly American Panama Canal Zone.