FILE -- Ships crossing the Gatún locks in the Panama Canal, July 10, 2024. To imagine the kind of future a hotter, dryer climate may bring, and the geopolitical challenges it will create, look no ...

Capt. Efrain Hallax was part of the first batch of Panamanians hired in 1983 to start replacing the American pilots who had steered ships through the Panama Canal since it opened in 1914.