Up to 1 January 2022, what is the longest period for which the Panama Canal has had to close?

The canal was completed on 15 August 1914. Since then it has been closed, once for military reasons, and several times for natural causes.

The military event was the US invasion of Panama on 20 December 1989: the canal closed for about one day.

The most recent natural event was on 9 December 2010: very heavy rains pushed water levels to historic highs forcing closure of the canal for about one day.

In addition, during the canal’s first century of operation, there were more than sixty landslides, several of which caused the canal to close. The most recent closure happened on 7 September 1986, when a slide along the Cucaracha area of Culebra closed the canal for 12 hours. However, the worst closure incidents occurred in the canal’s early years.

On 14 October 1914, several million cubic metres of rock and mud fell down Gold Hill in Culebra Cut, closing the canal for six days.

On 18 September 1915, a massive slide hit Culebra, closing the canal for nearly seven months, the longest closure of the canal to date.