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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| First voyage through expanded Panama canal | First voyage through expanded Panama canal |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A Chinese container ship has become the first vessel to sail into the newly expanded Panama Canal. | A Chinese container ship has become the first vessel to sail into the newly expanded Panama Canal. |
| Thousands gathered as the ship, called Cosco Shipping Panama, entered from the Atlantic en route to the Pacific. | Thousands gathered as the ship, called Cosco Shipping Panama, entered from the Atlantic en route to the Pacific. |
| Construction on the new lane for the canal, which runs for 77km (48 miles), began in 2007 and was due to finish in 2014. | Construction on the new lane for the canal, which runs for 77km (48 miles), began in 2007 and was due to finish in 2014. |
| But strikes and disputes over costs delayed the $5.2bn (£3.8bn) project. | But strikes and disputes over costs delayed the $5.2bn (£3.8bn) project. |
| Panama Canal expansion prompts safety concerns | Panama Canal expansion prompts safety concerns |
| The original Panama Canal was first used in August 1914. It was built by the US and handed over to local control in 1999. | |
| The expansion allows a new, much-larger generation of container ships to pass through the isthmus. | The expansion allows a new, much-larger generation of container ships to pass through the isthmus. |
| Some 35 to 40 vessels transit the waterway everyday. | |
| Panama hopes the expansion will increase the revenues it gets from the canal, reported to have been $2.6bn (£1.9bn) in 2015. | |
| But the canal could face competition from a new passage in Nicaragua. | |
| The controversial 278km (172 mile) scheme, being built by a Chinese firm, will be longer, deeper and wider than the Panama Canal. | |
| Its construction started in 2014 and it is estimated to cost $50bn (£32bn). |