 As of May 2014 , the ship lift was expected to be completed by July 2015 . It was tested in December 2015 and announced complete in January 2016 . Lahmeyer , the German firm that designed the ship lift , said it will take a vessel less than an hour to transit the lift . An article in Steel Construction says the actual time of the lift will be 21 minutes . It says that the expected dimensions of the 3 @,@ 000 tonnes ( 3 @,@ 000 @,@ 000 kg ) passenger vessels the ship lift 's basin was designed to carry will be 84 @.@ 5 metres ( 277 ft ) X 17 @.@ 2 metres ( 56 ft ) X 2 @.@ 65 metres ( 8 @.@ 7 ft ) . 
