Signed the final agreement between the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and the Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC) consortium, which definitively released the funding for the completion of the expansion of the waterway between the Atlantic and the Pacific. This was learned from a press release. The agreement provides for the completion of the work by 31 December 2015, with some intermediate points, such as the delivery of all the sluice gates (8 out of 16 have already arrived in Panama) by February 2015.
From an economic point of view, to complete the work, the agreement establishes the co-financing of ACP and Gupc for an additional 100 million dollars each and the contribution by Gupc of another 400 million deriving from the transformation of the guarantee ("performance bond" ) of the insurance company Zurich in further completion finance.
The signing comes after months of intense negotiations and, sanctioning the contents of the memorandum of understanding signed last March, incorporates the changes to the 2009 contract, with which Gupc (composed of the Spanish Sacyr, the Italian Salini Impregilo, the Belgian Jan De Nul and the Panamanian Cusa) was awarded the "Third set of locks" project, whose executive leadership passes from the Spanish to the Italians.
At the same time, the various Gupc complaints about unexpected costs incurred during construction will be resolved with international arbitration at the Court of Miami (USA), which on 21 July has already started discussions on a first tranche of 180 million dollars .
Furthermore, in the new relationship with the administration of the Canal, the executive leadership of the Third Set of Locks project has passed from the Spanish to the Italians: a manager of the Salini Impregilo group, Giuseppe Fourth. "Gupc will do everything to ensure that the collaboration with Acp is profitable and leads successfully to the completion of the work", commented Quarta who also expressed his appreciation for the decisions approved by the Authority and thanks to all the collaborators of the Consortium.
The Third set of locks project, which currently employs around 7.500 people, involves the construction of a new canal that will add to the two existing ones, for which the centenary will be celebrated on 15 August. The entry into operation of the new channel will allow the passage of ships called PostPanamax, almost 400 meters long and capable of transporting 13 containers, tripling the current capacity thanks to gigantic sliding gates, designed and built in Italy, and to a mechanism as complex as it is spectacular of successive openings and closings of water chambers capable of carrying ships from one ocean to another overcoming the 27-metre drop of Gatun Lake, the largest man-made lake in the world, located between the two oceans. The works for the expansion of the canal have reached 78% of the total.
