Inauguration of expanded locks set for June 26
THE THIRD of locks for the Panama Canal that will enable the transit of vessels carrying three times more than the current capacity, will be officially inaugurated on June 26.
The announcement was made Wednesday March 23 by Canal Authority (ACP) Administrator Jorge Luis Quijano at the Summit training center for pilots.
It comes after more than eight years of construction and with multi-millions in cost overruns, some still in dispute.
The opening will be in front of invited leaders from 70 countries that use the canal, including The United States.
President Juan Carlos Varela said that Chancellor and Vice President Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado will have the task of organizing the presence of the leaders.
The Maneuver Training Center will be used to train pilots who operate vessels that will use the new locks,
Construction of the center began in February 2015 and in November of that year the first tugs to be used in simulations arrived.
The postpanamax, called by the ACP neopanamax are megaships that can carry up to 13,200 TEUs (20-foot long), almost three times the amount of current vessels
The training center was built to 1:25 scale, ie ships transiting the locks are 25 times larger than those used in this center.
It was built on an area of eight hectares at a cost of more than $8 million and adjoins the Summit Municipal Park.
It was developed with advice from the Port Revel, France and has an artificial lake and two locks similar to the real ones.