Greece: Corinth Canal transit, #3

On the afternoon of 24 May 2007 I was a passenger on the 10,000-ton Seabourn Spirit when that vessel made a transit of the 3.9-mile (6.3-km)-long Corinth Canal from west to east.

The 68.9-foot-wide (21-meter-wide) canal, constructed between 1881 and 1893, connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Aegean Sea's Saronic Gulf. Cutting through the Isthmus of Corinth, the canal separates the Peloponnesian peninsula from the Greek mainland. In effect, the Corinth Canal creates an island out of the Peloponnesus.

Although ships narrow enough to utilize the canal can shave 400 kilometers off their journey, most of the 11,000 annual canal transits are now made for touristic purposes. Seabourn Spirit is 163 feet (49.7 meters) wide.

This video clip shows a movable bridge and the control tower at the eastern end of the canal. In addition, it shows a current appearing to flow from east to west through the canal.

For more information, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corinth_Canal.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Greece
• Corinth
• Canal
• Seabourn
• Spirit
• Aegean
• Peloponnesus
• tugboat