Dive Brief:

• The first expansion of the Panama Canal is well behind schedule thanks to labor disputes, among other problems, but officials are watching the shipping market to see if even-larger freighters justify a fourth set of locks.
• The Panama Canal Authority, which has run the system since the U.S. turned it over to Panama in 1999, would begin a new expansion "as soon as we can economically justify it," deputy administrator Manuel Benitez said.
• Benitez said the current canal project should be sufficient for a while, but there are now 400-meter-long "Triple-E" ships that can carry more than 18,000 containers and that are too big for even the new canal locks.

Dive Insight:

The current target for opening the canal's new, third set of locks is December 2015, what is 16 months later than the original timeframe. The delays have cost the Panamanian government $200 million and may impact other spending in the nation.