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Miami is Oasis capable because of... The Panama Canal


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When the Panama Canal announced the project to expand the Panama Canal for larger ships it created a new trend in shipping.  The neo or Post-Panamax standard was developed for super sized ships that couldn't fit through the original Panama Canal.  The original Panama Canal can only handle ships built to the Panamax standard.

When the new Panama Canal expansion project was announced ports around the Northern hemisphere all realized they needed to expand and grow to accommodate the new super sized cargo, container and tanker ships that would be looking for ports to drop their goods.  This spawned a race among larger ports to be ready for the Post-Panamax vessels for if they didn't they would be forgotten and ignored by the shipping industry.

This includes the Port of Miami who had to deal with their relatively narrow and shallow channel and harbor that ships use to reach the port docks.

https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Navigation/Navigation-Projects/Miami-Harbor-Deepening/

The work to make the Port of Miami ready was completed in 2015 just nine months before the new Panama Canal locks opened for Post-Panamax vessel traffic.

Had the Port not deepend the channel and harbor Oasis class ships would not be able to visit or home port in the Port of Miami.    

And so it is not inaccurate to say that we can all enjoy Oasis class ships home porting in the Port of Miami and the beautiful new Crown of Miami terminal because of the Panama Canal and specifically the neo-Panamax shipping standard that spawned from its recent expansion.  

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IIRC, there is a height restriction (≈190 ft) for the Panama Canal due to the Bridge of the Americas.  That eliminates Oasis & Freedom classes...not sure about the others but at least the older ships should be able to make it.  I thought remember reading that the Anthem can though.

Mike

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8 minutes ago, MicroBeta said:

IIRC, there is a height restriction (≈190 ft) for the Panama Canal due to the Bridge of the Americas.  That eliminates Oasis & Freedom classes...not sure about the others but at least the older ships should be able to make it.  I thought remember reading that the Anthem can though.

Mike

NCL Bliss has crossed under twice, but at low tide only.  Bliss is just ever so smaller than Quantum class and the largest cruise ship in the world to transit the Panama Canal.

Oasis is eliminated due to width.  To reach the Pacific she must use the Suez Canal.  

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On 11/20/2019 at 12:01 PM, twangster said:

NCL Bliss has crossed under twice, but at low tide only.  Bliss is just ever so smaller than Quantum class and the largest cruise ship in the world to transit the Panama Canal.

Oasis is eliminated due to width.  To reach the Pacific she must use the Suez Canal.  

I thought Oasis class was eliminated due to it's air draft as is cannot pass under the bridge of Americas.

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38 minutes ago, Flacruiser99 said:

I thought Oasis class was eliminated due to it's air draft as is cannot pass under the bridge of Americas.

The original Oasis and Allure had an air draft of 72m under normal operating conditions but that shrunk to 62.5m when they lowered the stacks and took on ballast water.   That's a mere 205'.    Both Oasis and Allure had to transit under the Great Belt bridge to reach the open sea when they were built and they took on ballast water and lowered their stacks to make that happen.

The wikipedia spec for the Bridge of the Americas is 201'.  Allowing for safety margins the Panamax standard is 190' maximum air draft. 

So how did the Bliss get under?

As it turns out the Pacific side of the canal is more tidal than the Atlantic side.  By leveraging tides there is an exception for ships up to...  62.5m at low tide.

So in theory the Oasis class could get under the Bridge of The Americas.  

Once the Panama Canal was expanded the neo-panamax dimensions for ships is 51.5m of beam or ~168'.  At the waterline Oasis is 47m (154') but...  she is wider above the water line maxing out at 60.5m (198').  The impact of width was very clear as we passed through the locks because there are structures along the canals on each side.  It's not clear if the neo-panamax standard is at the water line or maximum beam but it is known that Oasis class is not considered neo-panamax making her "unattractive" to the Panama Canal.  

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12 hours ago, twangster said:

The original Oasis and Allure had an air draft of 72m under normal operating conditions but that shrunk to 62.5m when they lowered the stacks and took on ballast water.   That's a mere 205'.    Both Oasis and Allure had to transit under the Great Belt bridge to reach the open sea when they were built and they took on ballast water and lowered their stacks to make that happen.

The wikipedia spec for the Bridge of the Americas is 201'.  Allowing for safety margins the Panamax standard is 190' maximum air draft. 

So how did the Bliss get under?

As it turns out the Pacific side of the canal is more tidal than the Atlantic side.  By leveraging tides there is an exception for ships up to...  62.5m at low tide.

So in theory the Oasis class could get under the Bridge of The Americas.  

Once the Panama Canal was expanded the neo-panamax dimensions for ships is 51.5m of beam or ~168'.  At the waterline Oasis is 47m (154') but...  she is wider above the water line maxing out at 60.5m (198').  The impact of width was very clear as we passed through the locks because there are structures along the canals on each side.  It's not clear if the neo-panamax standard is at the water line or maximum beam but it is known that Oasis class is not considered neo-panamax making her "unattractive" to the Panama Canal.  

Thanks. that is very good information.

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On 11/20/2019 at 9:01 AM, twangster said:

NCL Bliss has crossed under twice, but at low tide only.  Bliss is just ever so smaller than Quantum class and the largest cruise ship in the world to transit the Panama Canal.

Oasis is eliminated due to width.  To reach the Pacific she must use the Suez Canal.  

If Quantum class can go thru the Panama Canal, that would be a great cruise to go on. Imagine going on the Northstar while transiting thru the Panama Canal.

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  • 1 month later...

I believe when i was a kid my parents went on a cruise that went through the atlantic locks and into the lake then may have docked in the lake lake for a bit and turned around and went back out the atlantic locks.  Is this something that the Oasis class ship would ever do?

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