WATCH: Inauguration Of The $5 Billion Panama Canal Expansion

By Merrit Kennedy / NPR

Published June 26, 2016 at 5:23 AM PDT

This story was published more than 8 years ago.

The Neopanamax cargo ship, Cosco Shipping Panama, approaches the new Agua Clara locks, part of the Panama Canal expansion project, near the port city of Colon, Panama, on Sunday.

The inauguration of a long-awaited Panama Canal expansion is underway.

The colorful ceremony celebrating the culmination of this $5 billion project has featured dancing flowers, dragons and a marching band. The first large cargo ship is making its way through the new portion of the waterway.

Tune into the action on this live stream:

Become a KPBS sponsor

The project has the potential to double the Panama Canal's current cargo, as NPR's Carrie Kahn reported. But it has also "weathered cost disputes, serious questions regarding its design and a global slump in international shipping." The project took more than a decade to complete and is opening more than two years behind schedule.

You can find more of Carrie's coverage of the opening here, and see her video interview with the U.S. Ambassador John Feeley on the political implications of the project here.