Financial claims: Panama Canal claims $737m in overruns

One of claims of $333 million related to weight of gate for locks

PANAMA CITY: The consortium building the third set of locks for the Panama Canal is making fresh claims for cost overruns totalling $737 million, said officials. Canal administrator Jorge Quijano told reporters that the Panama Canal Authority had received two claims on Tuesday that “will be evaluated” to determine if there is probable cause. But he warned that “at first glance, the issues will be very difficult for the counterparty to justify.” One of the claims, for $333 million, is related to the weight of the gate for the locks – at 55,000 tonnes, compared to the 35,000 tonnes initially planned. But Quijano pointed to a clause in the contract according to which the canal authority would pay up to the value of a gate weighing 49,000 tonnes. The second claim, for $404 million, is due to delays in the fourth phase of excavation in the Pacific sector.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2014.

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