Alumni in Key Roles in the Panama Canal

The Academy and the Canal have always had close ties. The 1946 senior cruise included a transit across the canal, and Cristobal and Balboa were a regular stop in the 50s and 60s.

The SS Ancon, owned by the Panama Railroad Company, was commissioned as training ship for MMA in 1962. The following year the new State of Maine visited the canal during her first winter cruise. The ship lured to its old home port a few alumni like Roger Haines ’66 and Nat Gladding ’67, who joined the pilot force in the 70s. Haines served as a Senior Port Captain while Gladding was one of the few recipients of the John Constantine award for 20 years of accident-free pilotage.

With the signing of the Panama Canal Treaties in 1977 alumni, such as tug engineer Robert “Munchy” Munchbach ’64, started recruiting Panamanian high school students to attend MMA, which came to fruition in the mid-80s when a group of Panamanians came to the academy seeking the best education to tackle forthcoming challenges of their small nation.

The new, expanded canal opened in 2016 and conveys a route for vessels up to 1,200 ft. in length and beam up to 160 ft. through 1,400-ft. by 180-ft. lock chambers. Vessels with a cargo capacity of up to 14,000 T.E.U. and 46-ft. draft are some of the new customers.

In preparation for the new locks, several pilots, including Juan Molino ’89 and Peter Podest ’92, became instructors to help train the 290-member pilot force.

Tug master Jairo Bryant ’90 and Jorel Vega ’91, Tug Manager Atlantic District, were strategic players in the tug training program. Luis Castrellon ’05 was one of 150 tug captains who participated in this course.

MMA alumni are one of the pillars for the way we work today in the new expanded Panama Canal.█

— BY THE PANAMA CANAL ALUMNI CHAPTER 

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