Corinth Canal in southern Greece. The canal links the Gulf of Corinth on the east with the Gulf of Patras on the west, thus aiding small ship traffic between the Aegean and Ionian seas.   Julius Caesar ordered the first attempt to build the canal and there were several more over the centuries, but it was not completed until 1893.

The canal is cut through a steep rock formation and it is so narrow that we were not allowed to transit under our own power.   We had to be towed by a tug. I remember thinking this was an insult to our ship handling skills.   I must admit, however, that it would have been tough to go it alone.  I remember at the entrance that you could look straight down from the bridge through the clear water on either side and see rocks just a few feet from the ballast tanks.   The delay time between calling a helm order down the conning tower hatch to the steersman and the actual rudder response would have made the transit rather nerve wracking..... Photo Source








The canal, completed in 1893, is an impressive 6 km long sheer-walled channel, cut through solid rock at the narrowest land section of the Isthmus of Corinth, linking the Aegean and Ionian seas. (In ancient times, before the canal, vessels were frequently pulled to and from the gulf overland across the isthmus!) Large vessels today are easily pulled through the canal by a mighty tug.