Sunday, June 26, 2016

First vessel passes through expanded Panama Canal. The expansion will also allow Panama to lure massive liquified natural gas (LNG) tankers for the first time

A giant Chinese-chartered freighter has passed through the expanded Panama Canal to mark the completion of nearly a decade of work forecast to boost global trade.

Thousands of people cheered and waved flags on Sunday as they watched the vessel, especially renamed COSCO Shipping Panama, inaugurate the widening of the century-old waterway, which has been fitted with a new shipping lane and locks.

"This is a great day, a day of national unity and a day for Panama," President Juan Carlos Varela said in a speech. "This is the route that unites the world."

The United States and China are the two most frequent canal users. Its expansion is expected to greatly benefit commercial traffic between North America and Asia.

Al Jazeera's Teresa Bo, reporting from Panama, said the country's authorities see the event as the beginning of a new era.

"They are hoping to turn this country into a trans-shipping centre for the whole world and for the region," she said. "They want it to become a Dubai of the Americas."

  • Two years late
The expansion work carried out since 2007 - and finished two years late at a cost of at least $5.5bn - allows a new generation of much larger ships, known as Neopanamax class vessels, to ply the canal.

Neopanamax freighters can carry up to three times the cargo of older and smaller Panamax ships. Cruise ships built to the same dimensions typically double the number of passengers of the previous iteration.

The expansion will also allow Panama to lure massive liquified natural gas (LNG) tankers for the first time...
 Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
26/6/16
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