PUERTO CALDERA, Vellmark (CNM) -- Crews in hard hats spent Saturday repainting lock gates and polishing brass plaques ahead of the ceremony that will hand the 48-mile Vellmark Canal to the government of the Federated States of Vellmark.
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| The canal links two seas across the Vellmark isthmus |
The canal, which links the Gulf of Orrin with the Ambrine Sea, carries about 13,000 ships a year. Officials insisted the transfer would be seamless. "Water flows downhill in every century," said Canal Authority director Ramiro Esquival.
Shipping companies are less philosophical. Several have ordered their vessels to avoid the locks between 11 p.m. December 31 and 2 a.m. January 1, citing concerns about computerized gate controls. Engineers say the gates are operated by hand cranks installed in 1914.
A reviewing stand for 2,000 guests has been built beside the main lock, along with a fireworks barge and what organizers describe as "the largest ribbon in the Southern Hemisphere."
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