PANAMA
CITY (Reuters) - On Sunday, Panama Canal Administrator Jorge Quijano said the
locks would likely be ready, holding water, by April or May of next year.
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Photo by
Juliette Passer
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The
100-year-old canal, which is major global trade artery, is in the midst of a
massive expansion that will allow the world's largest tankers to pass through
the isthmus.
Tests
with ships will begin in mid-2015 on a new set of locks that are a key
component of an expansion of the Panama Canal, the waterway's chief said on
Sunday.
The
expansion, which involves building a third set of locks onto the 50-mile
(80-km) waterway, was originally scheduled to be completed this year, but has
been delayed several times, in part due to a dispute earlier this year because
of about $1.6 billion in cost overruns.
The
deadline for completion is now January 2016.
"We
hope to start a series of tests with the locks next year in the month of July
or August," Quijano said after overseeing the arrival from Italy of a
shipment of four new gates for the locks.
