Pepole wave Panama flags as they wait for the Chinese COSCO container vessel named Andronikos to navigate through the Agua Clara locks during the first ceremonial pass through the newly expanded Panama Canal in Agua Clara, on the outskirts of Colon City, Panama June 26, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panama opened the long-delayed $5.4 billion expansion of its shipping canal amid cheering crowds on Sunday, despite looming economic uncertainty in the shipping industry and a heated battle over billions in cost overruns.
At 7.50 a.m. (1250 GMT), the Chinese container ship "Cosco Shipping Panama" entered the Agua Clara lock on the Atlantic to begin the first crossing of the roughly 50-mile-long (80.45-km-long) waterway and was due to emerge on the Pacific side by 5.00 p.m. (2200 GMT).
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