April 23 (Reuters) - The first ship carrying crude from

the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline is expected to load at the

Port of Vancouver in the second half of May, the company

building the project said on Tuesday.

The expanded pipeline will carry an extra 600,000 barrels

per day (bpd) of oil from Alberta to Canada's Pacific coast and

is set to start transporting crude on May 1.

Final line fill will be completed in early May, Trans

Mountain said in an email.

The C$30.9 billion ($22.62 billion) expansion project,

bought by the Canadian government in 2018 to ensure it went

ahead, has struggled with years of regulatory delays and cost

overruns.

Canadian oil producers are keenly anticipating its opening,

which will open up access to export markets on the U.S. West

Coast and Asia and is expected to narrow the price discount on

Canadian heavy crude versus U.S. benchmark oil.

Westridge Marine Terminal in the Port of Vancouver, where

the pipeline terminates, will have three berths able to load

vessels with oil, Trans Mountain said. The dock has a maximum

capacity of 630,000 bpd, or 34 partially laden Aframax-sized

tankers a month.

"On average, we anticipate one empty tanker in, one

partially laden tanker out every day with variability throughout

the year," a Trans Mountain spokesperson said.

($1 = 1.3660 Canadian dollars)