The Panama Canal's third lane opened for business, following Sunday's transit of the 9,472-TEU COSCO Shipping Panama.

The 9,472-TEU containership, built this year and renamed specifically for the historic event, entered the new Agua Clara locks from the Atlantic Ocean early Sunday morning, and spent the day traveling through the waterway.

It had won the honor to be the first "neopanamax" ship to make a commercial passage through a lottery.

The vessel arrived in late afternoon at the Cocoli locks at the southern end of the canal, where it paused for a ceremony presided over by Panama's President Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez, then slipped into the Pacific approach to the canal at sunset.

COSCO Shipping Panama towered above the tens of thousands of spectators and dignitaries who gathered for the event at the middle of Cocoli's three locks.

Until now, the largest containerships able to pass through the canal have had a carrying capacity of just 5,000-5,100 TEUs, but with the three new locks at either end of the canal, ships carrying 13,500 to 14,000 TEUs will be able to use the waterway.