Jordan picks firms for ambitious canal project linking Dead Sea with Red Sea

Jordan said Monday it had chosen five international consortiums to build the first phase of a multi-million-dollar canal linking the Red Sea to the shrinking Dead Sea.

Nicaragua gives green light to canal project

Nicaragua on Thursday announced approval of an environmental and social impact study on a new canal that will link the Pacific with the Atlantic, allowing the project to go ahead.

Panama Canal Turns 100 Amid Growing Pains, Competition

The Panama Canal turns 100 this week. Officially opened in 1914, the 77-kilometer channel joins the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean at the isthmus of Panama.  It made the world smaller, creating a shortcut for cargo ships that ply their trade from east and west.  But 100 years later the canal is straining from the demands of expanding global trade.  It may also be facing some serious competition as it navigates the next 100 years.
Taking over 30 years to build, tens of thousands of workers - and more than 27 million kilograms of dynamite - it is considered one of the biggest engineering feats of the 20th century.  

Aprobada ruta definitiva del Gran Canal Interoceánico de Nicaragua (albergaría el 5% de tráfico internacional de buques)

La ruta escogida para la construcción del Gran Canal Interoceánico cruzaría a Nicaragua de este a oeste, partiendo desde la desembocadura del río Punta Gorda (Caribe) hasta la desembocadura del río Brito, en Rivas (Pacífico).

El canal superará más de tres veces los 77 kilómetros de su análogo en Panamá. Pasará a través del Gran Lago Cocibolca y de sus afluentes, la zona de libre comercio en Brito, por el complejo turístico en San Lorenzo y el aeropuerto en Rivas, uniendo dos puertos en el Pacífico y el Caribe.

Canal de Panama: les travaux seront menés à bien quoiqu'il arrive....

En dépit d'un conflit financier qui oppose le gestionnaire de la voie et le consortium en charge du chantier, les travaux d'élargissement se réaliseront bien, a affirmé samedi l'administrateur du Canal. 

Les travaux d'élargissement du Canal de Panama se réaliseront malgré le conflit financier opposant le gestionnaire de la voie et le consortium chargé d'une importante partie du chantier, qui menace de suspendre ses opérations lundi, a affirmé samedi l'administrateur du canal Jorge Quijano.

Un nouveau canal pourrait bientôt concurrencer celui de Panama

Le président du Nicaragua Daniel Ortega et le magnat chinois Wang Jing ont déclaré samedi que les travaux de construction d'un canal interocéanique à travers le Nicaragua devraient débuter fin 2014.

"Le gouvernement nicaraguayen et le groupe HKND sont heureux de confirmer que les travaux de construction du canal débuteront comme prévu en décembre 2014", ont déclaré les deux hommes dans un bref communiqué.

Spanish minister in Panama to end US$1.6b canal row

PANAMA CITY: A Spanish cabinet minister launched mediation efforts in Panama on Monday to resolve a US$1.6 billion dispute threatening to halt the expansion of the Central American nation's vital canal.
Public Works Minister Ana Pastor held separate meetings with Panama's president and executives of the Spanish-led consortium that has threatened to stop the project this month unless local authorities pay for the massive cost overruns.
After the two meetings, Pastor said the Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC) consortium wanted to negotiate a way out of the impasse.
"The commitment of GUPC is to resolve everything within the contract and for that reason they will sit down for dialogue," she said.
"We are trying to reach an agreement that will be good for everybody," Pastor said after talks with Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli.