Panama Canal Authority to appeal US$233m award to contractors

[PANAMA CITY] The Panama Canal Authority said on Tuesday it had asked for an international arbitration panel to review a decision to award US$233 million to the consortium expanding the canal in a dispute over cement quality.

The consortium, led by Spain's Sacyr and Italy's Salini Impregilo, and including Belgium's Jan de Nul and Panama's CUSA, said in January it had won US$233 million of the US$463 million it claimed in the dispute.

Any international arbitration would take place in Miami, the canal authority said.

The consortium has filed a series of claims totaling some US$2.3 billion over the dispute that halted work early last year on the expansion to allow bigger vessels to pass through the canal.

REUTERS