Save the Cruces Trail and Panama Canal Watershed

Ship hits wall of Panama Canal renewing design concerns 26 July 2016   From the section Latin America & Caribbean Share Image copyright AP Image caption The MOL Benefactor was one of the first mega-vessels to pass through the Panama Canal since its widening A Chinese container ship has hit a wall of the recently-widened Panama Canal, amid concerns that it has less space for manoeuvres and could be unsafe. It is the third accident of this kind since the multi-million dollar expansion opened a month ago. Workers' groups say the new locks are too small for safe operations now that the canal can take ships three times larger than before. The Panama Canal authority says it is investigating the incidents. Panama canal design prompts concerns ADVERTISEMENT The canal from the air The Xin Fei Zhou, owned by China Shipping Container Lines, suffered a large gash in its hull and is now undergoing repairs. The new locks are designed for ships to use ...

The New Panama Canal: A Risky Bet By WALT BOGDANICH , JACQUELINE WILLIAMS and ANA GRACIELA MÉNDEZ JUNE 22, 2016 How a $3.1 Billion Expansion Collided With Reality PANAMA CITY — On July 8, 2009, the champagne finally flowed. After an intense two-year competition, a consortium led by a Spanish company in severe financial distress learned that its rock-bottom bid of $3.1 billion had won the worldwide competition to build a new set of locks for the historic Panama Canal. The unlikely victors toasted their win at La Vitrola, a sleek restaurant in an upscale neighborhood east of downtown Panama City. Within days, executives of the four-nation consortium, Grupo Unidos por el Canal, flew to Europe to begin planning the project. This time, there would be no champagne. Disputes quickly erupted over how to divide responsibilities. Some executives appeared not to fully grasp how little money they had to complete a complex project with a tight deadline and a multicultural...