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Another delay hits Panama Canal expansion projectAnother delay hits Panama Canal expansion project

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has announced another delay of three months for the completion of the canal's expansion, pushing back the start of commercial transits to the fourth quarter of 2015.

Michele Labrut, Americas Correspondent

October 30, 2013

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In its third quarter report  ACP said that the delay resulted from the fact that the consortium Grupo Unidos por el Canal that is building the third set of locks, will deliver the Atlantic locks on 31 March 2015 and the Pacific locks on 30 June 2015, previously scheduled for early 2015 and April 2015 respectively.

“The main change between the schedule of the completion which had the date of April 2015 postponed to 30 June 2015 for the Pacific lock is due to electromechanical works whose logistics and duration were reassessed and modified resulting in a further delay of two months. The date of completion of the Atlantic lock is now set for the 31 March 2015,” ACP Administrator Jorge Quijano told Seatrade Global.

Those new dates do not include the testing trials of the locks which should take three months and put back the opening of commercial transits, originally forecast for mid-June 2015, to the last quarter of 2015.

To date, 66% of the expansion programme has been completed. 

The ACP was granted a $2.3bn loan from a group of mulitlateral agencies including the European Investment Bank (EIB) for $500m, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), $800m, the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB), $400m, the International Finance Corporation (IFC ), $300m and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), $300m. The rest of the $5.25bn cost of the total expansion programme is financed internally.

According to the report and to date, the ACP has received $800m from JBIC, $200m from the EIB, $400m from the IDB and $50m from CAF.

About the Author

Michele Labrut

Americas Correspondent

Michèle Labrut is a long-time Panama resident, a journalist and correspondent, and has continuously covered the maritime sector of Central & Latin America.

Michèle first came to Panama as a press attaché to the French Embassy and then returned to the isthmus as a foreign correspondent in the 1980s.

Author of Seatrade Maritime's annual Panama Maritime Review magazine and of several books, Michèle also wrote for Time magazine, The Miami Herald, NBC News and the Economist Intelligence Unit. She has also collaborated in making several documentaries for the BBC and European and U.S. television networks.

Michèle's profession necessitates a profound knowledge of the country, but her acumen is not from necessity alone, but a genuine passion for Panama.

In 2012 she was awarded the Order of Merit (Knight grade) by the French Government for her services to international journalism and in 2021 the upgrade to Chevalier grade.

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