Test runs start for Panama canal expansion

A Malta flagged cargo ship named Baroque navigates the Agua Clara locks as the first test of the newly expanded Panama Canal, in Agua Clara, Panama, Thursday, June 9, 2016. The canal's expansion project will be inaugurated on June 26. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco) (The Associated Press)

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Workers take photographs of the Malta flagged cargo ship named Baroque, a post-Panamax vessel, as it navigates the Agua Clara locks during the first test of the newly expanded Panama Canal in Agua Clara, Panama, Thursday, June 9, 2016. The canal's expansion project will be inaugurated on June 26. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco) (The Associated Press)

Panama Canal workers watch the Malta flagged cargo ship named Baroque, a Post-Panamax vessel, navigate the Agua Clara locks during the first test of the newly expanded Panama Canal, in Agua Clara, Panama, Thursday, June 9, 2016. The canal's expansion project will be officially inaugurated on June 26. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco) (The Associated Press)

AGUA CLARA, Panama – The first test runs have begun on the newly expanded Panama Canal.

Tugs nudged the bulk cargo carrier Baroque into the first of three levels of locks on the Atlantic side of the canal.

The expanded locks have increased the technical difficulty of maneuvering larger ships through the canal, but some of the challenges were eased by the weather during Thursday's test run, on a sunny day without much wind.

Workers and canal administrators were on hand to witness the tests, and workers unfurled a banner that read, "We built the canal."

The formal opening of the expanded canal is scheduled for June 26, about a year and a half behind schedule.