A simple ceremony at the Pacific Miraflores locks commemorated the inauguration of this remarkable feat of engineering that claimed nearly 25,000 lives but finished under budget at $370m and in time. It was built by the US Corps of Engineers which took over the ill-fated French venture initiated by Ferdinand de Lesseps, better known for having built the Suez Canal. Ironically, today the Suez Canal is the Panama Canal’s major competitor.
Since its opening over 1.05m transits have been made of the canal which linked the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
The Panama Canal then and now
"Going forward, the Panama Canal will continue to connect the world, supported by all the modernisation efforts since its construction,” said Panama Canal Administrator Jorge L. Quijano. “The Expansion will change trade patterns just as the Canal opening did a century ago.”
A one-year delay has postponed the opening of the $5.25bn Panama’s Canal expansion that includes building a third set of locks allowing the passage of post-panamax vessels that cannot transit the present waterway because of their size.
The construction of the locks has been marred by the international consortium’s work stoppages caused by a dispute over cost overruns claimed by Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC) that is building the third set of locks.
However, following a long-term agreement signed between the two parties a month ago, construction has returned to its normal pace, and the locks are at 73% complete, at end-July. The delay cost the Panama Canal losing already two services that have re-routed through Suez, since shipping lines have updated their services with post-Panamax ships to take advantage of economies of scale.
GUPC has committed to deliver the locks by December 2015 which, following a three-month trial, could begin to become operational in the first half of 2016.
The future: lock gates arraiving at the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal expansion project
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