Negotiations continue on the future of Panama Canal expansion

“We continue to have exchanges and communications channels remain opened,” Jorge Quijano, ACP administrator, told Seatrade Global. Both parties are trying to reach an agreement that would renew the works on the construction of the third set of locks, stopped by GUPC last week.

GUPC comprise Spain’s Sacyr Vallehermoso, Italy’s Salini Impregilo, Belgium’s Jan de Nul and Panama’s CUSA.

The proposal includes extending the moratorium for repayments by GUPC and setting dates for the completion of the gates and their arrival in Panama.  

But sources close to the negotiations told Seatrade Global on condition of anonymity, they could not hide their frustration at the end of the meetings because they saw “no light at the end of the tunnel”.   

Time is pressing to find a solution since ACP is not willing to wait much longer for construction to resume. These latest meetings between GUPC and the ACP seemed to show no progress in resolving the dispute, leaving in doubt the future of negotiations.  

Dissension amongst the members of the GUPC consortium, which have surfaced since the beginning of the construction, have taken another turn and are driving the negotiations into the ground, say some observers.