The Panama Canal has conducted another successful trial transit in the expanded Canal, with the transit of a US-built crane ship called the ‘Oceanus’, which was maneuvered through the Pacific-facing Cocoli Locks by Panama Canal Pilots Fernando Jaén and Ricardo Varela.
The Inauguration of the Expanded Panama Canal will take place on Sunday June 26, 2016 with the first commercial transit of the COSCO Shipping Panama.
PTI previously reported that the Panama Canal Authority had selected Cosco to conduct the first transit through the canal with its 9,400-TEU Andronikos containership.
This was followed by news that Cosco’s ship had recently set sail from the Greek Port of Piraeus and is now on its way to Panama to make history.
Once inaugurated, the expanded Canal will double the waterway’s cargo capacity, which is anticipated to enhance the canal’s efficiency, reliability and customer service.
The new waterway will provide greater economies of scale to global commerce as Neopanamax ships will be able to transit.
It was recently reported that the Panama Canal was in its final stages of development, which is considered to be the most complex part of the project.
