The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) said traffic is normal and there will be no problem with meeting the deadline for inaugurating the Canal expansion project, despite the collapse of a wall segment at one of its locks, according to AFP.
The expanded Canal is due for formal inauguration on June 26, and opening for commercial activity the following day.
The wall section that collapsed is at the Miraflores lock and has no connection to the expansion work, said the ACP, the government agency responsible for operating the Canal.
It added that the lock itself is solid, secure and stable and the wall in question is not part of the basic structure of the lock. It was built to hold back earth from the original slopes along the banks.
Ships can continue to transit the Canal while the wall is repaired.
Expansion of the 50-mile (77-km) inter-oceanic shortcut is running at a cost of around $5.3bn. The aim is to make the Canal ready for the new generation of mega-sized container ships, which have three times the cargo capacity of the present maximum.
The project has been marked by delays and cost overruns with the latter months dominated by a problem of cracks and leaks in one of the new third locks.
On Tuesday the multinational Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC) consortium responsible for the expansion work is handing over the completed project.
