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Year on year the traffic through the Panama Canal increases, as does the tonnage and size of vessels passing through. Currently this man-made shortcut, the “most sought after in the world”, has traffic ‘piling up’ outside, waiting to cross. Further, an increasing number of freight and container vessels exceed the ‘Panamax’ (maximum size of vessel that can pass through the waterway): in 2007 roughly half of all cargo ships exceeded this. Even those ships which meet the ‘Panamax’ limitations face difficulties: the Panama Canal is the only place in the world where the captain must surrender their vessel to a pilot in order to navigate the narrow channels. All these logistical issues make transit increasingly slower and slower with time.

Currently, the Panama Canal contributes a significant chunk, approximately 30%, to the Panamanian Economy. Whilst crossing the Panama canal takes 10 hours, (a significant time saving in comparison to the 2 week 8000 mile journey required to traverse the tip of South America); the requirement to convey cargo to smaller vessels, and the hassles involved with ‘Panamax’ ships, will render its use uneconomical. To alleviate these problems, and give the canal a future, expansion is necessary. The (estimated) $5.25 billion expansion of the Panama Canal was given the green light in 2006. The project is expected to be completed in early 2015, just over a century since its opening.