What happens if a container ship refuses to give way to a Russian warship in the narrowest Panama Canal section?
Short answerThe premise is implausible because canal pilots, rather than the ships' captains, control movements through the constrained passage.
NotesThe scenario comes from a Tom Clancy novel and assumes that a container-ship master can independently refuse to give way to a Russian warship. The response challenges that premise because Panamanian pilots would be directing both vessels through the canal. Ships pass in single file through the constrained section described, with pilots controlling when each movement can proceed. Their task is to keep traffic safe and moving, leaving little scope for a confrontation created by the two captains' competing preferences. The fictional encounter therefore omits the local authority that makes the canal operate.