Panama Canal arbitration in late July

[MIAMI] Arbitration to decide who will bear the Panama Canal expansion project's US$1.6 billion cost overrun will begin in closed-door sessions in Miami later this month, according to lawyers arguing the matter.

On July 21, "both sides will submit their terms and draft procedural orders for how things will work", said Carolyn Lamm, an attorney with White & Case representing the Spanish-led construction consortium.

Labour and cost disputes have plagued the effort to expand the 100-year-old canal, fanning fears of delays that could cost Panama millions of dollars in lost shipping tolls and posing a setback for companies worldwide that want to move larger ships through the waterway that links US South and East Coast ports to Asian markets.