Picture [N 001 / a ship passing into the canal] from the [V 009 / Pacific side]: the ship is currently at sea-level until it moves into the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores Locks. Together they raise the ship 85 feet above sea level where it then passes through the [P 013 / Gaillard Cut] (eight miles long) and the 24-mile-long Gatun Lake. After Gatun Lake, the ship will pass through the three [V 008 / Gatun locks] and then move out into the Atlantic Ocean.
Despite the operations of the canal being overseen by [P 005 / one person], there are many other key positions which are essential to the process running smoothly. No vessel can ever pass through the canal under its own navigation. It has to be towed by electric locomotives (the number depends on the size of the ship), nicknamed [V 003 / 'mules'] that move up and down the sides of the canal on [P 004&P006 / railway tracks]. At the same time a [V 004 / 'canal pilot'] has to board the ship and is respons
ible for both liaising with the mule drivers and ensuring safe passage through the canal. Towing cables, used to hold the vessel in the center of the lock by the mules, have to be at full tension constantly. They consist of one-inch thick steel chords and possess a tensile strength of about 78,000 pounds.
