The Panama Canal is 77 km (48 miles) long and cuts across the Isthmus of Panama. At each end it uses three pairs of "locks" for lifting and lowering ships on different water levels. This saves ships 15,000 km (10,000 miles) compared to going around South America. Each year, about 14,000 ships come through the canal. By 2002, around 800,000 ships came through. 