Canal authority to appeal ruling

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) is to appeal against the December adjudication board ruling that it has to pay US$ 234 million to consortium Grupo Unidos por el Canal, (GUPC) and extend its contract by six months. The appeal will go before an arbitration hearing in Miami, US

GUPC is the consortium comprising Sacyr of Spain, Salini-Impregilo of Italy, Jan De Nul of Belgium and Constructora Urban, SA (CUSA) of Panama which is carrying out US$ 3.2 billion contract to increase the capacity of the Panama Canal with a new set of locks. ACP is the client for the project.

The dispute relates to poor quality basalt, which was to be used for aggregates on the project as well as a delay on ACP’s part in approving the concrete mix to be used on the project.

The consortium said the issue of basalt quality was raised as early as February 2011, when it said it discovered that the rock was not of the same quality as indicated in the bidding documents issued by ACP. The claim relating to this is based on the additional costs that the consortium had to assume to adjust the processing plant for this material and to seek new sources of aggregates.