Panama Canal has received the last shipment of new gates today for its ongoing expansion project, the canal Authority informed.
The four gates are being delivered by the Chinese-flagged XIA ZHI YUAN 6 heavy-lift vessel owned by COSCO Ocean Shipping.
The new locks, constructed in Italy by Cimolai SpA, will have 16 rolling gates, eight in the Pacific and eight in the Atlantic.
The canal expansion project involves widening of the channel and adding a third set of locks, one set on the Pacific and the other on the Atlantic side. The expansion project is 80 percent complete.
The expansion is aimed at allowing the passage of bigger vessels, doubling the canal’s capacity.
World Maritime News Staff