24/03/2015

The First Vice-President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, along with a group of 40 MEPs and the Minister for Canal Affairs, Roberto Roy, visited the Panama Canal expansion works, describing them as "stunning".

"Construction of the new Canal, tasked to a Spanish company, an Italian company and a Belgian company, underlines the vast capacity of European industry. We are very proud of this", said Mr. Tajani.

"It is one of the most incredible engineering works in the world and is set to revolutionize maritime traffic and world trade, leading to the creation of new infrastructures in Latin America", added Mr. Tajani. The First Vice-President of the European Parliament also highlighted the fact that it will "bring benefits for Panama and contribute to the development of the global economy".

Third set of locks

Sacyr heads the Third Set of Locks project, the chambers of which will be 427 meters long, 55 meters wide and 18.3 meters deep and allow the passage of Post-Panamax vessels of 366 meters in length, with three times the load capacity compared to all current Panamax.

The project includes the installation of 16 gates (of which 10 have already been installed), weighing a combined total of 50,000 tons: the largest are 33 meters high and weigh 4,300 tons.

All the gates are due to be installed in their respective chambers by mid-2015, after which the chambers will be flooded and operational tests will commence on the new locks.

N.P. MEPs visit the Panama Canal
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