THE CONTAINER vessel  Andronikos, of the  shipping company Cosco, based in China, will be the first ship to transit through the new locks of the expanded Canal on Saturday June 26.

The announcement followed  a draw at the Canal Administration building on Friday, April 29 Tankers were not considered for the inaugural traffic for security reasons

Andronikos has a maximum capacity of 9,400 TEU, and  is 48.25 meters wide and 299.98 meters long

Only one neopanamax ship will transit that day, heading south in the morning through the locks of Agua Clara in Colon  to Cocoli  on the , Pacific,in the  afternoon.

Meanwhile, commercial t Nippon ransits will continue from June 27. Led by   liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) ahip Linden Pride, of the , Nippon  Yusen Kaisha line (NYK line) and represented by the shipping agency Norton Lilly International (Panama), SA.

Canal  administrator Jorge Luis Quijano decribed the June 26 event  as  a milestone in the history of world trade, inaugurating a work that promotes greater efficiency through economies of scale."

Quijano said that the Panama Canal has competitors but  with enlargement and its geographical position it is the best route, not only because it is the fastest and safest to navigate, but because it is the most environmentally responsible