For more than a century now the Panama Canal has been operating, but because of the constantly increasing traffic there is a need in its expansion.
The aim of the project is to maintain the competitiveness of the country in the global logistics market, as well as to increase the revenues from the canal. The project will allow bigger ships cross the waterway, thus increasing productivity, profitability and effectiveness of the system. This is a great opportunity for Panama to develop maritime industry.
All gateways were given the names of the places they are built: Gatun on the Atlantic side, Pedro Miguel and Miraflores on the Pacific. The size of the new lock will be huge: 55 meters wide and 427 meters long.
The unique geographical position of the Isthmus of Panama made the country a center of world trade, and the Panama Canal is one of the major factors to influence the economy of the whole Republic. The expansion will provide improvements in service sector and it is expected that with the project termination the standards of living in Panama will go up.
The project began in 2006 and at this time is completed to close of 70%.
