Panama canal expected to be expanded

Voters are expected to approve the largest modernisation project in the 92-year-history of the Panama Canal, a £3bn (€4.48bn) plan to expand the waterway to allow for larger ships while alleviating traffic problems.

President Martin Torrijos’ government says the facelift will double the capacity of a canal already on pace to generate about £780m (€1.16bn) in revenue this year.

But critics say the expansion will benefit the canal’s customers more than Panamanians and fear costs could balloon, forcing this debt-ridden country to borrow even more.

The project would build a third set of locks on the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the canal by 2015, allowing it to handle modern container ships, cruise liners and tankers too large for its current 108ft-wide locks.