Panama Canal

==Routes competing with the canal==

===Nicaragua canal===
{{Main|Nicaragua Canal}}
On July 7, 2014, [[Wang Jing (businessman)|Wang Jing]], chairman of the [[HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment|HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co. Ltd. (HKND Group)]] advised that a route for Nicaragua's proposed canal had been approved. The construction work was projected by HKND to begin in 2014 and take 5 years,<ref name=bbc>{{cite web|url= https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-30584559|title= Nicaragua launches construction of inter-oceanic canal|publisher= [[BBC]]|date= December 23, 2014|access-date= January 9, 2015|archive-date= January 8, 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150108185127/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-30584559|url-status= live}}</ref> although there had been little progress before the project's abandonment.<ref name=ReutersPerry2017>{{cite web|url=http://news.trust.org/item/20171201092333-6asue|title=Can a coast-to-coast canal solve Nicaragua's poverty problem?|date=1 December 2017|work=Thomson Reuters Foundation News|access-date=1 December 2017|archive-date=December 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201104008/http://news.trust.org/item/20171201092333-6asue|url-status=live}}</ref> The Nicaraguan parliament approved plans for the {{convert|280|km|mi|abbr=on|0}} canal through Nicaragua and according to the deal, the company would have been responsible for operating and maintaining the canal for a 50-year period. By May 2017, no concrete action had been reportedly taken constructing the canal and further doubts were expressed about its financing.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-08-23|title=Four Years Later, China-Backed Nicaragua Canal Struggles to Take Off the Ground|url=https://panampost.com/adriana-peralta/2017/05/08/four-years-later-china-backed-nicaragua-canal-struggles-to-take-off-the-ground/|access-date=2022-02-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823160624/https://panampost.com/adriana-peralta/2017/05/08/four-years-later-china-backed-nicaragua-canal-struggles-to-take-off-the-ground/|archive-date=August 23, 2017}}</ref> In February 2018, analysts widely viewed the project as defunct, though the head of the project insisted work was on-going and HKND retained the legal rights to the concession for the canal as well as side projects. Despite HKND vanishing in April 2018,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Schmidt|first=Blake|date=26 April 2018|title=Ex-Billionaire Abandons Office in Prime Hong Kong Tower|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-26/nicaragua-canal-builder-abandons-office-in-prime-hong-kong-tower|access-date=6 February 2022|website=Bloomberg}}</ref> the Nicaraguan government indicates that it will continue with the 908&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> (351 sq mi) dry land expropriations within Nicaragua, under land expropriation Canal Law 840.

===Colombia rail link===
In 2011, Colombia's then-president [[Juan Manuel Santos]] announced a proposal for a {{convert|220|km|0|abbr=on}} railway between Colombia's Pacific and Caribbean coasts.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7e14756c-37a9-11e0-b91a-00144feabdc0.html |last1=Rathbone |first1=John Paul |last2=Mapstone |first2=Naomi |title=China in talks over Panama Canal rival |newspaper=Financial Times |date=2011-02-13 |others=Additional reporting by Geoff Dyer and Robert Wright |url-status=unfit <!-- actually live, but behind paywall --> |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110215125957/https://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7e14756c-37a9-11e0-b91a-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=2011-02-15}}</ref><ref name="ch-co-rail">
{{cite news |last=Branigan |first=Tania |date=February 14, 2011 |title=China goes on the rails to rival Panama canal |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/14/china-rail-rival-panama-canal |url-status=live |work=The Guardian |others=Additional research by Lin Yi |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211041102/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/14/china-rail-rival-panama-canal |archive-date=2021-02-11}}</ref> However, in 2015 the director of the Colombia-China Chamber of Commerce said the proposal "was mentioned in 2011 and subsequently had minimal relevance".<ref>{{cite news |last=Romero |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Romero |date=October 3, 2015 |title=China's Ambitious Rail Projects Crash Into Harsh Realities in Latin America |script-title= |trans-title= |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/world/americas/chinas-ambitious-rail-projects-crash-into-harsh-realities-in-latin-america.html |url-status=live |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211032654/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/world/americas/chinas-ambitious-rail-projects-crash-into-harsh-realities-in-latin-america.html |archive-date=2021-02-11 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

===Northwest Passage===
{{Main|Northwest Passage}}
Climate change has thinned much of the ice that in the past made this route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans impassable. Satellite navigation can help monitor location of the ice which remains, further easing transit. A few ships have successfully crossed the previously impossible route since 2000.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/09/09/first-came-an-arctic-luxury-cruise-next-comes-arctic-shipping/ |title=That pricey Arctic luxury cruise was just the beginning. Up next: Arctic shipping |author-link=Chris Mooney (journalist) |first=Chris |last=Mooney |date=September 9, 2016 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=January 10, 2022 |archive-date=September 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907040356/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/09/09/first-came-an-arctic-luxury-cruise-next-comes-arctic-shipping/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec===
{{Main|Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec}}
Since 2019, Mexico has been building a corridor of its own, known as the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT, by its initials in Spanish), which will use primarily a railway, the ''[[Tren Interoceánico]]'', to transport cargo and passengers from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic.<ref>{{cite journal|title=What is the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT)?|journal=Opportimes|date=19 November 2021|url=https://www.opportimes.com/what-is-the-interoceanic-corridor-of-the-isthmus-of-tehuantepec-ciit/|access-date=18 July 2023}}</ref> It is planned to open on December 22, 2023, and for all the works related to it to have begun operation by July 2024.<ref>{{cite journal|title="El 22 de diciembre se inaugura el Tren del Istmo": AMLO|journal=[[Proceso (magazine)|Proceso]]|date=14 October 2023|language=es|url=https://www.proceso.com.mx/nacional/2023/10/14/el-22-de-diciembre-se-inaugura-el-tren-del-istmo-amlo-316776.html|access-date=15 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Elisa|last=Villa Román|title=Tren Interoceánico del Istmo de Tehuantepec: ruta completa, estaciones y fechas de inauguración|journal=[[El País]]|date=1 October 2023|language=es|url=https://elpais.com/mexico/2023-10-01/tren-interoceanico-del-istmo-de-tehuantepec-ruta-completa-estaciones-y-fechas-de-inauguracion.html|access-date=15 October 2023}}</ref> This idea is older than the Panama Canal itself, with the original [[Tren Interoceánico|Tehuantepec Railway]], which is being rehabilitated for the CIIT, being inaugurated in 1907 to initial success, but falling out of use due to the [[Mexican Revolution]] and the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914. The current Corridor is expected to have certain advantages over the Panama Canal, such as its speed, being able to transport cargo from one ocean to the other in about six hours,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Interoceanic Corridor in Mexico will move 1.4 million containers a year|journal=Mexico Daily Post|date=10 November 2022|url=https://mexicodailypost.com/2022/11/10/interoceanic-corridor-in-mexico-will-move-1-4-million-containers-a-year/|access-date=18 July 2023}}</ref> and its location, being closer to the United States than Panama, in addition to the creation of ten [[industrial parks]] in the Isthmus with various tax benefits to encourage private investment.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Juan|last=Toletino Morales|title=Ferrocarril del Istmo: a un siglo, ¿qué puede (volver a) salir mal?|journal=[[Expansión (Mexico)|Expansión]]|date=30 May 2023|language=es|url=https://expansion.mx/empresas/2023/05/30/proyecto-ferrocarril-del-istmo|access-date=18 July 2023}}</ref> However, despite being often described as a potential alternative/competitor to the Panama Canal, the ambassador of Panama in Mexico, [[Alfredo Oranges]], and the former director of the CIIT, [[Rafael Marín Mollinedo]], have stated that they do not see the CIIT in this way, and that they prefer to see it as a "complement" to the Panama Canal, which could relieve the intense traffic the Canal has to cope with. The ambassador even proposed collaborating with the Mexican government to make the Corridor more efficient.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Jassiel|last=Valdelamar|title=Corredor Interoceánico de AMLO y Canal de Panamá pueden ser 'compitas', destaca embajador|journal=[[El Financiero]]|date=31 May 2023|language=es|url=https://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/economia/2023/05/31/corredor-interoceanico-y-canal-de-panama-pueden-ser-compitas-destaca-embajador/|access-date=18 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Nicolás|last=Guzmán|title=El histórico corredor interoceánico que revivió AMLO|journal=[[DW Español]]|date=23 November 2022|language=es|url=https://www.dw.com/es/el-hist%C3%B3rico-corredor-interoce%C3%A1nico-que-revivi%C3%B3-amlo-en-m%C3%A9xico/a-63865946|access-date=18 July 2023}}</ref>

===Other projects===
[[File:Mining and Scientific Press - March 28 1885 - Interoceanic Ship Railway (206).png|thumb|upright|Wood engraving illustrating the plan for an "Interoceanic Ship Railway" in Central America between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, proposed by [[James Buchanan Eads|James B. Eads]] in the late 19th century. It was never built, and the Panama Canal was built instead.]]

Individuals, companies, and governments have explored the possibility of constructing deep water ports and rail links connecting coasts as a "dry canal" in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador/Honduras. However, plans to construct these sea-rail-sea links have yet to materialize.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://theloadstar.co.uk/canal-mania-hits-central-america-with-three-more-atlantic-pacific-projects/ |title=Canal mania hits central America with three more Atlantic-Pacific projects |first=Gavin |last=Van Marle |work=The Load Star |date=July 2013 |access-date=October 15, 2014 |archive-date=January 16, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150116063316/http://theloadstar.co.uk/canal-mania-hits-central-america-with-three-more-atlantic-pacific-projects/ |url-status=live }}</ref>