A day after it was revealed that a crack appeared in the Panama Canal’s third set of locks the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) said on Tuesday that the problem should not be significant enough to impact on the Canal expansion project’s completion deadlines.
At the same time ACP laid out in no uncertain terms the unacceptability of any deficiencies in the quality of work by the contractor, international consortium Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC). And GUPC is expected to meet all the costs involved in fixing the crack.
The two parties have been in talks but as of Tuesday morning had not revealed the extent of the repair work needed to fix the damage. Leaks coming from the crack in the lock, which is on the Pacific side of the Canal, are clearly visible to the naked eye.
The crack was exposed during a water-filling and testing procedure for the locks.
Expansion of the Canal involves the construction of a third lane of traffic that will allow the passage of much larger ships.
