In less than 24 hours, a Chinese vessel will become the first ship to sail through the newly-expanded Panama Canal. Delegates from some 70 countries or regions will be on hand for the opening ceremony.

At a practice run earlier this month,  this colossal freighter glided with apparent ease through the Panama Canal's newest locks.

More than a million ships have passed through the Canal since it was first built 100 years ago. But none like this with tug boats in front and back, and new hydraulics capable of supporting some of the world's biggest vessels. A decade in the making, the nearly five-and-a-half billion dollar project is ready for business.

"You have a little piece of the world put together in Panama. If you go to the project, you can say: this came from the Netherlands, this came from Germany, this came from Korea, this came from Italy, this from Spain. So it's pretty awesome," said Ilya De Marotta, senior engineer of Panama Canal Expansion.

And the world stands to benefit. By more easily connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the news locks are expected to boost global trade, at a time of decline. Already several ports are investing billions of dollars to expand their own capabilities.

For months, the tugboat operators who'll be guiding the ships through the 80-kilometer waterway ... have been training on scaled models. Some say: they still aren't ready. While others wonder if the new locks are safe.

"We are at the mercy of the currents. If the tugboat from behind has its lines broken, there is no one to save the tugboat upfront. Right now there's no established procedure, so it's dangerous inside the lock chamber," said Daniel Camazon, Tugboat Captain.

The U.S. built the original canal, and controlled it for more than 85 years, before handing over full sovereignty to Panama in 1999. For many, here, the expanded canal is now a source of national pride.

"We've been able to advance the canal. That's very important to us. And I know that we will continue to administer it well, and that all of the benefits that we will receive will be for the people of Panama."

The expansion will open to regular commercial traffic on Monday, but the new lane is not cheap. The cost for passage can approach one million dollars. The canal authority says it already has more than 150 reservations for the new locks through the end of the year.