Chapter 328: The Panama Canal

Hundreds of meters away, gravity pulled the two back again, so they smashed back into the water again, and bounced out again, one after another, just like stone flakes floating in the water. ()

After playing twice, Ma Tianyuan felt the fun, so he also began to enjoy the invincible stimulation, until he finally rushed forward weakly, and the air film floated on the ocean.

"Cool, it's really not an ordinary cool!"

The two of them were like playing bubble balls in the park, lying in the enchantment and laughing. Just when the two of them were having a good time, a huge black shadow suddenly appeared under the sea level, and a large mouth rose up like a net of heaven and earth, and with a "suddenly" sound, the two people were contained in it.

When the huge sharp teeth behind them closed, the two men let out a desperate scream: "Oh my mother, great white shark, help!" ”

Darkness fell in an instant, and the two people were all in their mouths by this sneak attack, because they were holding two people at the same time, the great white shark couldn't swallow it, so the two rows of sharp teeth continued to tear the air membranes of the two people.

Just as the two of them were cracking, a "squeak" sounded and the mouth of the great white shark opened again. I saw Zhang Binhui kicking the jaw of the great white shark with both feet, supporting the upper lip of the great white shark with both hands, exerting force on all fours, and forcibly propping up the mouth of the greedy fish again.

"Fun, right? Why don't you take a break in its mouth first? ”

He Qiliao and Ma Tianyuan screamed, used their limbs together, and escaped with rolling and crawling.

The great white shark swims like an arrow, and its instinctive sense lets it know that there are four people here that it can't afford to mess with. And here, Homer and the others are already paralyzed with fright.

"Heh, cool, right? What a rare experience in life! ”

Homer and the others shook their heads again and again: "I can't do it, I won't dare to play this kind of thing in the future." Almost became a shark's belly meal, this kind of experience, who else has tried it? ”

Who thinks Zhang Binhui doesn't care: "Who has tried, the uncle in front of you!" What is a shark? I walked in the belly of the whale once, and finally ......"

Speaking of this, Zhang Binhui immediately shut up, so the other five people came back to their senses: "How about the back?" ”

"Ahem, looks like it's coming, right?"

Zhang Binhui secretly wiped a cold sweat, this matter is embarrassing, and he can't say anything.

Far below the six of them, a narrow stretch of land covered with tropical rainforest appeared. In the middle of the rainforest, a canal appeared, and boats came and went.

Central America has arrived, and below it should be the Panama Canal.

Located in Panama in Central America, the Panama Canal crosses the Isthmus of Panama and connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

The Panama Canal is owned and managed by the Republic of Panama and is a lock-type canal. Its length is about 65 kilometers (40 miles) from one coastline to the other.

The depth of the Atlantic Ocean (or more precisely the Caribbean Sea) to the Pacific Ocean is about 82 kilometers (50 miles), 304 meters wide at the point, and only 152 meters at the narrowest point.

On August 15, 1914, the Panama Canal was officially opened, greatly shortening the distance between the east and west coasts of the United States, 14,800 kilometers shorter than that of Cape Horn.

During World War II, the United States used the canal to send aircraft carriers to replenish the nearly destroyed Pacific Fleet. Although the aircraft carrier is able to pass through the canal, it is necessary to remove the navigation beacon first to make room for the channel.

A total of 14,035 vessels with a total draft of 266,916,576 tons passed through the Panama Canal during the 2004 fiscal year.

Sovereignty over the canal was returned to Panama in 1999, and since the canal could not fit through giant oil tankers and today's large aircraft carriers, the United States is planning to dig new canals elsewhere in Central America.

"Wow, this is the Panama Canal, I finally see it!"

Flying over the canal, Ma Tianyuan took out his mobile phone and took pictures. This is the world's transportation artery, the lifeblood of the United States' national defense, and we have wanted relevant intelligence materials for a long time.

None of the six people had ever been to this place, and since they had come, they naturally wanted to browse it, so everyone pretended to be tourists again, fell to the ground, and wandered around with great interest.

When we got closer, we were surprised to find that the Panama Canal is not only a transportation artery, but also a huge construction site, and the wharf on this side of the Pacific Ocean is under construction.

All kinds of construction machinery are going around here, and workers of different skin colors are busy, but one thing is relatively uniform, the foremen commanding on the construction site are basically yellow-skinned.

Seeing this, Zhang Binhui remembered something, so he pulled Ma Tianyuan with a smile:

"Hey, I said Lao Ma, I heard that the management rights of the Pacific side of the Panama Canal were taken by the richest Chinese. Such a key position can we Chinese take down, don't say the inside story you don't know? ”

Zhang Binhui asked about this reason, he likes to watch the news, although it has been a long time, he still remembers it. When I got here, I naturally remembered it.

On 31 December 1999, Panama regained sovereignty over the canal from the United States. Due to the rapid development of the world economy, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, the Panama Canal, one of the world's most important trade routes, is becoming increasingly saturated.

As a result, the Panamanian government announced plans to expand the Panama Canal. According to this plan, Panama will construct a three-level upgraded lock and supporting facilities at each end of the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the canal.

With a width of 55 meters and a length of 427 meters, the new locks can pass through more than Panamanian restricted class vessels.

At present, the width and length of the locks chamber of the Panama Canal are 33. 5 meters and 305 meters, the maximum class that can pass through the vessel is the Panama Restricted class. The total investment for the entire expansion program is 52. 500 million US dollars, the estimated construction period is 7 years.

Currently, 5% of global trade is transported around the world via the Panama Canal. The United States, Japan, and China are the three largest users of the Panama Canal.

As early as 1997, a well-known enterprise in Hong Kong, China, and a subsidiary of the Whampoa Group won the management rights of the two ports of Balboa on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal and Cristobal on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal for 25 years through international bidding.

In October 2005, Hutchison Whampoa Panama Ports signed an agreement with the Panamanian government to invest US$1 billion in the Panama Canal Port Expansion Project.

The United States has repeatedly expressed "concern" about this matter, and it is quite normal for it to have such a reaction.

Hutchison Whampoa Group is a privately owned company in Hong Kong, China, which also owns a large number of assets in mainland China and is economically inextricably linked to the mainland.

The Panama Canal is the economic lifeblood of the United States, as a competitor, we Chinese have taken part of the management rights, can it not worry?

Hearing Zhang Binhui's question, looking at the eyes of the five people, Ma Tianyuan smiled.