The Panama Canal Authority expects the expanded canal “should be in operation by January 2016” after a trial period, Silvia de Marucci, ACP’s manager of marketing and forecasting, said Friday. Marucci made the comments in response to a question at the International LP Gas Seminar in Tokyo. “In January 2016, we are expecting to be operational” after a period of testing at both the Atlantic and Pacific side of locks, Marucci said. At the moment, the expansion is 65% complete, she added. The latest target is seven months behind a previous estimate of June 2015. The project was originally scheduled for completion this year. Next week, ACP intends to sign a final agreement with its contractor for the expansion project, Marucci told Platts ahead of the conference Friday. “Works were stopped about a month ago but resumed two weeks ago and we are very […]