Panama Canal Expansion 96% Complete

Inauguration of the canal is expected to be in the second quarter of 2016.

Jan. 5, 2016

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) said on December 21, that the canal is 96% complete.

ACP provided an update on the expansion.

Locks reinforcements are scheduled to be completed mid-January 2016.
Testing of locks reinforcements and additional testing will occur next.
In April, transit trial tests with a chartered vessel in the Atlantic locks will occur.
A date for the expansion’s inauguration will be then be selected, expected to be in the second quarter of 2016.
Subsequently, the commercial opening date will be selected. The opening will be soon after the inauguration.

“An expansion of the Panama Canal has never been done and we should all feel very good about where we are today," said ACP CEO Jorge L. Quijano.