Editing Panama (section)

===Harbors===
The Caribbean coastline is marked by several natural harbors. However, Cristóbal, at the Caribbean terminus of the canal, had the only important port facilities in the late 1980s. The numerous islands of the Archipiélago de Bocas del Toro, near the Beaches of Costa Rica, provide an extensive natural roadstead and shield the banana port of [[Almirante, Bocas del Toro|Almirante]]. The more than 350 [[San Blas Islands]] near Colombia, are strung out over more than {{convert|160|km|abbr=off}} along the sheltered Caribbean coastline.

[[File:Colon Panama.jpg|thumb|[[Colón, Panama|Colón Harbor]], 2000]]
The terminal ports located at each end of the Panama Canal, namely the [[Port of Cristóbal]], Colón, and the [[Port of Balboa]], are ranked second and third respectively in Latin America in terms of the number of container units ([[Twenty-foot equivalent unit|TEU]]) handled.<ref>{{cite web |author=CEPAL – Naciones Unidas |url=http://www.eclac.cl/cgi-bin/getprod.asp?xml=/Transporte/noticias/noticias/8/38828/P38828.xml&base=/tpl/top-bottom.xsl |title=Ranking 2009 de Actividad portuaria de contenedores en América Latina y el Caribe |publisher=Eclac.cl |date=March 22, 2010 |access-date=December 23, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511140155/http://www.eclac.cl/cgi-bin/getprod.asp?xml=%2FTransporte%2Fnoticias%2Fnoticias%2F8%2F38828%2FP38828.xml&base=%2Ftpl%2Ftop-bottom.xsl |archive-date=May 11, 2011 }}</ref> The Port of Balboa covers 182 hectares and contains four berths for containers and two multi-purpose berths. In total, the berths are over {{convert|2,400|m|abbr=off}} long with alongside depth of {{convert|15|m|abbr=off}}. The Port of Balboa has 18 super post-[[Panamax]] and Panamax quay cranes and 44 [[gantry crane]]s. The Port of Balboa also contains {{convert|2,100|m2|lk=out|abbr=off}} of warehouse space.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldportsource.com/ports/PAN_Port_of_Balboa_1602.php |title=Port of Balboa |publisher=World Port Source |access-date=December 23, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170712093447/http://www.worldportsource.com/ports/PAN_Port_of_Balboa_1602.php |archive-date=July 12, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Ports of Cristobal (encompassing the container terminals of Panama Ports Cristobal, Manzanillo International Terminal, and Colon Container Terminal) handled 2,210,720 TEU in 2009, second only to the [[Port of Santos]], Brazil, in Latin America.

Excellent deep water ports capable of accommodating large [[VLCC]] (Very Large Crude Oil Carriers) are located at [[Charco Azul]], [[Chiriquí Province|Chiriquí]] (Pacific), and [[Chiriquí Grande]], [[Bocas del Toro Province|Bocas del Toro]] (Atlantic) near Panama's western border with Costa Rica. The [[Trans-Panama pipeline]], running {{convert|131|km|abbr=off}} across the isthmus, has operated between Charco Azul and Chiriquí Grande since 1979.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.petroterminal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=32%3Ahistory&catid=7%3Acorporate-profile&Itemid=98&lang=en |title=Our History |publisher=Petroterminal.com |date=February 9, 1997 |access-date=December 23, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028134321/http://www.petroterminal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=32:history&catid=7:corporate-profile&Itemid=98&lang=en |archive-date=October 28, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>