June 27 - The voyage by the Cosco Shipping Panama through the Cocoli Locks marked the official opening of the newly-enlarged Panama Canal.
The Panamanian President, Juan Carlos Varela, thanked the nearly 30,000 people who had worked on the canal's expansion, which has delivered considerable business for project forwarders, specialist transport engineering companies and heavy lift shipping lines.
Construction on the new locks for the canal, which runs for 77 km, began in 2007 and was due to finish in 2014, but strikes and disputes over costs delayed the USD5.2 billion project.
The original Panama Canal was first used in August 1914. It was built by the USA and handed over to local control in 1999 and the expansion will allow larger generation of container ships to pass through the isthmus.
