Panama City, Mar 23 (EFE).- The long-delayed inauguration of the expanded Panama Canal will take place on June 26, the administrator of the interoceanic waterway said Wednesday.

“After passing some critical tests this past weekend, we concluded that the inauguration date would be June 26 of this year,” Panama Canal Authority, or ACP, Administrator Jorge Quijano said.

Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela said, meanwhile, that an inauguration ceremony “protocol” had been activated and invitations were already being sent out to dignitaries across the Americas and users of the waterway, which currently handles about 6 percent of world trade.

The centerpiece of the canal’s expansion program, launched in 2007 with an initial budget of $5.25 billion, is a third set of locks that will enable the canal to accommodate “New Panamax” ships.

Those modern ships hold up to 13,000 20-foot-long containers and are three times bigger than what the canal can currently handle.

The GUPC consortium, led by Spanish construction giant Sacyr Vallehermoso, was awarded a $3.1 billion contract for the third-locks project in 2009.

Last December, Quijano said the expanded canal would begin commercial operations shortly after the official inauguration, which has been pushed back on several occasions due to repairs, strikes and contractual disputes between the ACP and the consortium.