Panama Canal announces expansion plans

Panama Canal announces expansion plans    Panama Canal Authority Chairman Ricaurte V'squez Monday announced the authority's recommendation to build a new lane along the Panama Canal that will double capacity and allow more traffic, a project estimated to cost $5.25 billion.
   The cost will be borne entirely by users of the canal through a graduated toll system, PCA said in a statement.
   V'squez submitted the expansion plan Monday to President Mart'n Torrijos at a Town Hall meeting. The president will discuss the recommendation with his cabinet, make a recommendation to the National Assembly, and the process will culminate with the Panamanian people voting in a national referendum.
   “Today is an historic moment for the Panamanian people and the global shipping and maritime industry. After several years of analyzing and reviewing hundreds of studies and projections, we are recommending the expansion of the Panama Canal,” V'squez said in a statement. “Our vision is clear — this project will be for the benefit of the people of Panama and world trade. Panama’s geographic location is its destiny — we aim to be at the center of global trade and become a great maritime hub. The time is right and the time is now.”
   An expanded canal would be a boon to shippers, carriers and the people of Panama, PCA officials said. The new lane would be able to accommodate post-Panamax vessels — containerships wider than 91 feet can't fit through the locks — helping Panama maximize its strategic geographic location by increasing capacity on the vital “all-water route” from Asia to the United States.
   The project would entail the creation of a new lane of traffic along the canal through the construction of a new set of locks using environmentally sound water-saving basins that will reuse 60 percent of the water in each transit, PCA said.
   Construction is slated for completion by 2014.