The first gates for the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal expansion works have been transferred to the new locks complex on the Atlantic end, according to Shipping Gazette.
"This is a very important operation because it involved the first movement of the gates from the special dock where they were unloaded to the lower chamber of the new locks," said Panama Canal Authority (ACP) administrator Jorge Quijano.
Mr Quijano said the process was carried out following rigorous safety measures to ensure that the 3,000-ton steel structures could be moved to the dry lock chambers using the pavement ramp built for this purpose.
Eight of the 16 rolling gates that will be used for the new locks are already in Panama. The remaining eight will arrive in two separate shipments from the manufacturer in Italy.
The other gates are to be moved from the temporary unloading dock to the dry lock chambers to be able to use the area for the arrival of the remaining lock gates. The Panama Canal expansion programme is 77 per cent complete.