Expanded Panama Canal welcomes first vessel

Panama celebrated the first successful crossing through its newly expanded canal Sunday, marking what analysts hope will be a new era in global commerce. The wider passageway through the Central American country cost $5.25 billion and will allow much larger ships to cross from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. The first vessel to transit the new locks, Cosco Shipping Panama, measured in at 984 feet long and 158 feet wide. It carried 9,472 shipping containers.