With the flood of new locks, today will start the first test runs of the gates of the expanded Panama Canal.
In a statement, Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC), consortium responsible for the work, said the flooding phase will take three to four months.
The process will begin with the opening of five valves in the Atlantic sector of the waterway, specifically in Agua Fria, in the province of Colon.
In the operation will be use five million cubic meters of water to partially fill the first two cameras, which take about four days. However, the flood of each lock may take about three to four months and the process will require 20 million cubic meters of water.
Once they flooded the locks, they will proceed with testing operation of filling and emptying mechanisms and subsequently passing the ship.