P.M. BRIEFING : Panama Canal Hours Extended
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WASHINGTON — The Panama Canal will be open for 20 hours today and should return to 24-hour operation Thursday, a spokesman at the Atlantic-Pacific waterway’s headquarters said.
“We hope that the number of ships passing through the canal can go to around 30 tomorrow and over 40 by Friday,” Panama Canal Commission Secretary Michael Rhode said.
On Tuesday, the White House said the canal was again operating 24 hours a day, but this was denied by a canal spokeswoman in Panama who said it was operating at only 16 hours.
Rhode said the canal has been unable to operate at 24 hours so far because not all the 8,500 workers at the waterway have returned to their jobs because of transportation problems in the wake of the U.S. invasion.
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