Panama, March 23 (EFE) .- The Panama Canal expansion will open on June 26 with the first commercial ship traffic load and ceremony protocol to which are invited 70 heads of state, including US, Barack Obama, and Chinese, Xi Jinping, reported today Panamanian authorities.
“After having passed a critical test this weekend we have come to the conclusion that the opening date is June 26 this year, “said the administrator of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), Jorge Quijano, in an official ceremony which was also attended by president country, Juan Carlos Varela.
So far what ship will pass through the expansion is unknown. The authorities of the waterway have to decide if they choose the shipping through an auction or through a raffle.
“What I think you can do a raffle (…) raffled among large customers who have the honor of being the first, “said Minister of Canal Affairs, Roberto Roy.
on Sunday June 26 in the morning the ship will enter the water route across the Atlantic and arrive in the afternoon the Pacific, where they will be waiting for the authorities of the country and all your guests.
“from this moment, in the Chancellery a protocol for that act is activated, for which already are turning invitations to heads of State of America and the main users of the Canal, “Varela said.
Panama invited to the ceremony the leaders of the 35 countries of the Organization of American States (OAS) and heads of state of most use the waterway, among which are China, Japan and South Korea, according to data from the ACP.
the Panamanian Deputy Foreign Minister, Luis Miguel Hincapie said Wednesday that king Philip IV of Spain and former US president Jimmy Carter, who in 1977 signed with the then Panamanian president Omar Torrijos treaties that allowed the transfer to Panama the sovereignty of the waterway will also be invited.
United States built between 1904 and 1914 the Panama Canal, and administered it until it reverted to Panama on December 31, 1999.
“I hope (the Carter president) can participate because such a key in the Canal piece, “admitted Hincapie.
the redevelopment of the Canal, where it currently spends 6% of world trade took off in 2007 and were to have been completed in 2014, but they were delayed by labor strikes and conflict between the ACP and the contractor building the new locks, Groups Unidos por el Canal (GUPC), led by the Spanish Sacyr.
the extension consists of a third lane where will ship Neopanamx, with capacity of up to 13,000 containers, almost three times the actual, and has an initial total cost of 5,250 million dollars.
the project of the new locks was signed in 2009 by 3,118 million dollars, but the GUPC has filed claims for 3,600 million dollars to the ACP, which has rejected most.
“We are aware that the development of enlargement has not been an easy road and despite those arising setbacks has been achieved successfully progress toward completion, “Varela said.
the opening date was announced during the opening of the training Center Maneuver Scale, a school of the ACP where they will receive training pilots and captains of tugs that will guide ships through the new lane.
the pilots and tugs count towards your workouts with two container and a gas carrier, which is being completed to build.
in fact, one of the business opportunities opened up by enlargement is the transport of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which has so far not been exploited because gas carriers not fit through the existing locks.
Quijano said earlier this month during the opening of the Expocomer trade show, estimated that from 2020 to pass each year by the new Canal 25 million metric tons of LNG.
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