STX Sun Rise is scheduled to arrive this month at the Panama Canal carrying four new gates for the third set of locks. It has left the Mediterranean and is now in open waters in the Atlantic Ocean.

The 24,173-deadweight-ton semi-submersible vessel sailed from the Port of Trieste in Italy. The gates were built by Cimolai and weigh about 3,100 tons each.

This is the second shipment of gates from Cimolai for the US$5.25 billion expansion. The first four gates were built for the Atlantic side, while the current shipment of gates will be installed on the Pacific side of the project. STX Sun Rise also transported the Atlantic gates, which arrived last August. Two additional shipments are scheduled for a total of eight gates on each side of the locks.

When the new steel gates arrive, they will be transported by SPMTs to the installation site. Each gate measures more than 57 meters long, 10 meters wide and 30 meters high.

*NEWS SOURCE