The Largest Capacity Vessel To Cross The Panama Canal Is The Disney Adventure Cruise Ship -

(MENAFN- Newsroom Panama) The Disney Adventure cruise ship became the largest passenger vessel by gross tonnage to transit the Panama Canal on Monday, marking a milestone, the canal authority announced. The waterway handles between 3% and 6% of global trade. “The transit of this enormous cruise ship, with a gross tonnage of 208,000 tons and a capacity for approximately 6,700 passengers, belonging to the Disney Cruise Line, is part of its repositioning voyage,” the canal authority stated in a press release.

The Disney Adventure above“marks a milestone because it breaks the previous record” held by the Norwegian Bliss, surpassing it by 40,000 tons, said Albano Aguilar, Market Analysis and Forecasting Specialist for the Canal. Panama Canal Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez presented a plaque of recognition to the Disney Adventure as it passed through the Agua Clara Locks in the Caribbean province of Colón, part of the canal expansion that began service in mid-2016 at a cost of over $5 billion.

The transit of this giant cruise ship, measuring 342 meters in length and 46.4 meters in beam,“demonstrated the Canal's capacity to manage high-capacity transits with precision and reliability,” according to official information. The Disney Adventure is one of five cruise ships making their inaugural transit during the current 2025-2026 cruise season, which also includes the Aidadiva, Brilliant Lady pictured above, Celebrity Ascent, and Star Seeker.

For fiscal year 2026, more than 40 transits of Neopanamax cruise ships are anticipated. These vessels, which transit the expanded canal, have more than three times the capacity of those that use the century-old locks. Added to the Disney Cruise Line fleet in 2025, the Disney Adventure was built at the Meyer Werf shipyards in Germany and is based in Singapore, from where it operates three and four-night itineraries with days at sea.

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