Panama Canal Authority Wins $265 Million Arbitration Case Against Expansion Project Contractor

A crack seen in the wall of the new Cocoli Lock, one of the locks in the Panama Expansion project, which delayed the completion of the project by two months. Picture taken August 2015.

PANAMA CITY, Sept 25 (Reuters) – The Panama Canal Authority said it won an arbitration ruling on Friday for $265 million to be returned to it from the consortium that built a third set of locks for the key transoceanic waterway.

The authority cited a decision from a Miami-based arbitration board it said was issued earlier on Friday.

The GUPC consortium, which includes Spain’s Sacyr SA and Italy’s Impregilo International Infrastructures NV, no longer exists. Neither company could not be reached for comment after hours on Friday.

Initiated in 2015, the case centered on disputed cost overruns largely dealing with concrete quality. It marks the latest of three arbitration verdicts stemming from the canal’s expansion, completed four years ago and allowing the canal to handle bigger ships.

Two arbitration decisions covering separate disputes between the canal authority and GUPC remain unresolved. (Reporting by Elida Moreno; Editing by David Alire Garcia and William Mallard)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020.

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