Panama to Open $5.3B Canal Expansion June 26 or `Lose Face'
- Contractors building new locks will finish work on May 31
- Shipments through widened canal may rise to 360m tons by 2017
The last gate of the Pacific Locks is being installed as part of the Panama Canal expansion, as the media is offered a tour, in Cocoli, near Panama City, on April 28, 2015.
Photographer: Rodrigo Arangua/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The expansion of the Panama Canal, a $5.3 billion project almost two years behind schedule and plagued by cost overruns and contractor disputes, will open on June 26, Canal Authority Administrator Jorge Quijano said on Wednesday.
Contractors building the new locks, which will allow bigger ships to pass through the 102-year-old waterway, will complete works on May 31.