China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) has won the right to make the first transit through the Expanded Panama Canal during the waterway’s inauguration on Sunday, June 26.
The 9,400 TEUs container vessel Andronikos will be making the inaugural transit. The vessel is 48 meters in beam and 299.98 meters in length.
Should the COCSO vessel not sail, then Wallenius Wilhemsen Lines (WWL) will take the historic spot with the car carrier Thalatta which has a maximum capacity of 8,000 CEUs (car equivalent units), is 36.5 meters in beam and 199.97 meters in length.
“It is a great honor to have one of our top customers celebrate this historical moment with us,” said Panama Canal Administrator, Jorge L. Quijano. “We are excited and prepared to continue providing the same reliable and efficient service within the Expanded Panama Canal that our customers have come to expect through the years.”
The Panama Canal invited its top customers to participate in the draw.
Of the invited customers, those interested in participating were required to indicate the Neopanamax vessel’s name, type and dimensions that it planned to deploy on the inauguration day of the Expanded Canal.
In addition, more than 100 Neopanamax ships have already made reservations for commercial transit through the new locks, which will begin on June 27, 2016, following the historic inauguration.
On April 18, 2016, the Panama Canal began accepting transit bookings for Neopanamax vessels for commercial transits through the Expanded Canal, which will begin on June 27, 2016. The Canal will offer four additional slots per day for Neopanamax vessels, in addition to the existing 25 slots for the existing Canal.
The first commercial transit reservation was granted to a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker Linden Pride of Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line), represented by shipping agent Norton Lilly International (Panama), S.A. The vessel has a length of 754.59 feet and a beam of 120.08 feet.
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