continued… We were now 54 feet higher above sea level than we had been before entering the first of the two Mira Flores locks. Here are our advisors strategizing about the next lock, while Eric waited for directions.

While we were waiting for the container ship in front of us to be disconnected from the trains (called mules) that held it in place while the waters were turbulent, a giant container ship pulled into the new, larger lock next to us. 

The construction on a third, larger set of locks to accommodate bigger ships began in 2007. We’d seen the construction when we went through the canal in 2009.  The new set of locks was completed in 2016.