June 26th Inaugural Transit Ship Announced

And the winner is, Andronikos a 9000teu* container vessel. For a comparison the largest container vessel that can pass through the present locks is around 4000teu.

The Andronikos is 980'x157', the old Panamax dimensions are 965'x106'.

*teu- twenty foot equivalent units. In general most of the containers you see on container ships are 40' long which equates to 2teu, so there would be around 4500 actual containers on the ship.

A first runner up was also named in case the nominee is unable to fulfill the duties of being the first one through the Canal expansion. Almost like a beauty contest;):)!

Watched a TV interview of the Canal Administrator Jorge Quijano following the drawing that awarded the first transit to Andronikos, where he stated that so far 102 vessels have made transit reservations for the new third set of locks. He listed several different types of vessels that had reserved and it included 1 passenger ship! Of course no other info was available on which passenger ship/cruise line it would be or the date of the transit. Guess they are just going to keep us in suspense:D!

While the Andronikos has been announced as the ship for the inaugural transit for the Canal expansion, there are plans for some "dry" runs before the actual opening day of June 26th. The bulk carrier MV Baroque is scheduled to arrive on the Atlantic side of the Canal in early June for some test lockages at the Agua Clara Locks. The Baroque is 836'x141'.

http://splash247.com/bunker-to-conduct-trial-runs-at-panama-canals-new-locks-early-june/

MV Baroque

Watched a TV interview of the Canal Administrator Jorge Quijano following the drawing that awarded the first transit to Andronikos, where he stated that so far 102 vessels have made transit reservations for the new third set of locks. He listed several different types of vessels that had reserved and it included 1 passenger ship! Of course no other info was available on which passenger ship/cruise line it would be or the date of the transit. Guess they are just going to keep us in suspense:D!

The suspense has been shattered by diligent detective work that would make Sherlock Holmes proud! I just can't claim doing any of the detective work;), CC poster whatcruiseisnext on the Princess board provided a link with the info on what is the passenger ship with a reservation. The passenger ship with the reservation is the Caribbean Princess 951x118, which will offer partial transits from Florida in October 2017. Just a reminder, while it has the first ressie, it is possible that another passenger ship could make a transit before the Caribbean Princess does.

The attachment in the linked post will take you to the pdf schedule... the Caribbean Princess is on page 4.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=49958086&postcount=1

The Andronikos will not be the ship for the inaugural transit... it will however be the same ship! The name of the Andronikos has been changed to Cosco Shipping Panama. The CSP recently sailed from Greece for Panama after a ceremony which included the Canal's administrator Jorge Quijano.

From the Canal's YouTube channel, the send off for the Cosco Shipping Panama from Piraeus, Greece... next stop Cristobal Panama on June 25 for the first transit on the 26th.