WITH THE SPEECHES,  bands, flag waving and fireworks for the official opening of the Panama Canal Expansion already receding into history, The Canal Authority (ACP) got down on Monday, June 27, to the business of moving the first two of 168 neopanamax ships that have booked passage through the canal.

The first ship to transit the locks on  Monday was the Lycaste Peace, under a  Panamanian flag. It entered the  Agua Clara  lock at 6:00 a.m. and left t at 8:30 a.m.

The Butterfly ship carrying oil under the     Bahamas flag, entered Agua Clara at 8:15 a.m. Ilya Espino de Marotta, executive vice president of the ACP revealed onSunday that there are already 168 reservations in the next three fiscal years to transit the new locks.

Ilya Espino Marotta, ACP executive vice president said that the Canal will have among its new customers ships carrying liquefied gas, which previously did not pass through the waterway.

Only two neopanamax  vessels were schedule for Monday, but other vessels were transiting the  original locks.