Expanded Panama Canal opens with Chinese ship making first passage

Panama's President Juan Carlos Varela gives a speech prior the opening of the Panama Canal expansion project, at the new Agua Clara locks, near the port city of Colon, Panama, June 26, 2016. The ship carrying more than 9,000 containers entered the newly expanded locks that will double the Panama Canal's capacity in a multibillion-dollar bet on a bright economic future despite tough times for international shipping. [Photo/IC]

COSCO SHIPPING is the newly formed company after Cosco Group and China Shipping Group merged earlier this year, and the Panama vessel was loaded with containers bearing the names of “Cosco” and “China Shipping” onboard.

The company said that after the new expanded canal opens, it will be able to send many of its new Panamax ships it owns, which include large container and bulk carriers as well as tankers that can now pass through the wider lane. COSCO SHIPPING deploys its larger ships to enhance services to the US east coast, it said.

The COSCO SHIPPING Panama, launched in January 2016, is a new shipping vessel that measures 984 feet long and 158 feet in beam. It carries a capacity of 9,472 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) and was named in honor of the inaugural visit as well as the people of Panama, according to maritime news site Marine Link.

The inaugural ceremony marks the end of the largest construction project undertaken at the Panama Canal since its opening in 1914. The expansion doubles the canal’s cargo capacity, adding a third lane to accommodate larger ships that can carry about 14,000 containers, up from the 5,000 that ships can previously carry.