The eagerly anticipated $5.25 billion expansion project is expected to double the canal’s capacity, cut global maritime costs by an estimated $8 billion annually according to the International Monetary Fund and once again transform global shipping. Currently, the US transportation system supports the most efficient soy supply chain in the world, which provides the USA with a significant competitive advantage over South American soy suppliers.
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The United States – builder of the original canal, which opened in 1914 and is still in operation alongside the additions – was represented at the ceremony by Jill Biden, the wife of the U.S. vice president. Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela and Panama Canal Administrator and CEO Jorge L. Quijano honored the nearly 40,000 workers-who made the Expansion a reality-with a message of pride, accomplishment, hope and opportunity.
The grand opening was held for the renovated Panama Canal. Originally named Andronikos, the vessel was renamed by China COSCO Shipping to pay respect to the people of Panama and for the honor of the inaugural transit.
In addition to the widened Panama Canal, another massive canal, the Grand Interoceanic Canal of Nicaragua, is now in the early stages of construction. The Panama Canal, however, continues to serve more than 144 of the world’s trade routes and the majority of canal traffic comes from the “all-water route” from Asia to the US East and Gulf Coasts.
The expansion will also allow Panama to lure gargantuan liquified natural gas (LNG) tankers.
In this regard, Panama Canal Pilot Association President Londor Rankin said he was hoping for longer locks.
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Panama opened the long-delayed 5.4 billion-dollar expansion of its shipping canal amid cheering crowds yesterday, despite looming economic uncertainty in the shipping industry and a heated battle over billions in cost overruns. The idea behind the new locks was that huge “neo-Panamax” ships can move far greater quantities of cargo through the canal. At the Suez Canal, a rival of the Panama Canal whose expansion construction work was completed in August 2015, the freight volume rose faster, at about 9 percent over the same period. Some 35 to 40 vessels transit the waterway each day, and the canal is estimated to handle about 6 percent of world maritime commerce.
