$5.3 Billion Expansion Approved for Panama Canal

oters approved on Sunday a $5.3 billion initiative to double the size of the Panama Canal by 2014, Bloomberg reported Monday.

The move is aimed at providing an alternate route for ships transporting cargo from Asia to the eastern United States, Bloomberg said.

The expansion will focus on adding a set of locks to the canal so that ships that are currently too large to use the waterway will be able to pass through, Bloomberg reported.