The Panama Canal Authority welcomes the first super-sized ship through the $5.4 billion deeper, wider set of locks on Sunday, which are expected to double the cargo capacity of the canal of the 100-year-old manmade shipping route.
The nine-year project to expand the canal is expected to shift and improve trade both to the United States and around the world, because larger ships will now be able to more easily travel between the Atlantic and Pacific, and was considered essential to keeping the canal relevant, representatives of the authority said...
[upi.com]
25/6/16
--
-
Related:
---
First voyage through expanded Panama canal...
ReplyDeleteA Chinese container ship has become the first vessel to sail into the newly expanded Panama Canal.
Thousands gathered as the ship, called Cosco Shipping Panama, entered from the Atlantic en route to the Pacific.
Construction on the new lane for the canal, which runs for 77km (48 miles), began in 2007 and was due to finish in 2014.
But strikes and disputes over costs delayed the $5.2bn (£3.8bn) project.
Panama Canal expansion prompts safety concerns
The original Panama Canal was first used in August 1914. It was built by the US and handed over to local control in 1999.
The expansion allows a new, much-larger generation of container ships to pass through the isthmus.
Some 35 to 40 vessels transit the waterway everyday.............http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36635198