Les travaux d'élargissement du Canal de Panama se réaliseront malgré le conflit financier opposant le gestionnaire de la voie et le consortium chargé d'une importante partie du chantier, qui menace de suspendre ses opérations lundi, a affirmé samedi l'administrateur du canal Jorge Quijano.
"Nous sommes préparés à faire face à toute éventualité, mais je suis sûr que l'élargissement du canal sera mené à bien avec ou sans" le consortium international GUPC, qui réclame une rallonge financière de 1,6 milliard de dollars (environ 1,2 milliard d'euros) en raison de "surcoûts" dus à des problèmes géologiques imprévus, a annoncé le responsable.
"Notre intention est de terminer les travaux le plus tôt possible, (même) dans le cas où il y a une suspension des travaux (...) nous allons achever les travaux quoi qu'il advienne", a ajouté M. Quijano lors d'une cérémonie marquant le centenaire de la voie interocéanique, inaugurée en 1914 et rétrocédée au Panama par les États-Unis en 1999.
Le consortium Groupe Unis pour le canal (GUPC), dirigé par l'entreprise espagnole du BTP Sacyr, a menacé fin décembre de suspendre le chantier dans un délai de 21 jours si l'Autorité du Canal de Panama (ACP) ne versait pas la somme demandée. Cet ultimatum arrive a échéance lundi.
"Les négociations demeurent ouvertes"
Plusieurs tentatives de dialogue, notamment sous l'égide des autorités espagnoles et panaméennes, ont échoué jusqu'à présent mais "les négociations demeurent ouvertes", a souligné M. Quijano, reconnaissant toutefois avoir ouvert des discussions avec d'autres entreprises en cas de rupture du contrat du GUPC.
Le consortium, chargé de construire un troisième jeu d'écluses pour le canal, partie la plus couteuse des travaux (3,2 milliards de dollars), a déjà "significativement" réduit ses activités, a encore indiqué M. Quijano.
Ces travaux pharaoniques d'élargissement, d'un montant total de 5,2 milliards de dollars, ont commencé en 2009 et devaient initialement se terminer en 2014 afin de coïncider avec le centenaire du canal. Mais leur achèvement a été repoussé à 2015 après un premier désaccord dès le début du chantier entre l'ACP et GUPC sur la qualité du ciment utilisé...........................En savoir plus sur http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/monde/canal-de-panama-les-travaux-seront-menes-a-bien_1315354.html#GDsHm3T1J57qpuzL.99
18/1/14
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Sur le même sujet:
Halt in expansion of Panama Canal could cause major delays: arbitrators....
ReplyDelete(Reuters) - If work on the expansion of the Panama Canal is suspended, it could take up to five more years to finish, according to arbitrators helping to oversee the project that has been hit by a dispute over costs.
Since the start of 2014, the Panama Canal Authority (PCA) has been embroiled in a public row with the consortium known as Grupo Unidos Por el Canal (GUPC) over $1.6 billion in additional costs the GUPC says have arisen during work on the project.
Though the spat only recently went public, discussions over added costs have been going on since 2010, and advisers on the project's Dispute Adjudication Board (DAB) said in a letter written in December that any hold-ups would be serious.
"If GUPC was to stop work now, the canal would be finished, but not in 2015 - more likely in 2018, 2019, or 2020," the panel of independent international advisers said in the document, a copy of which was seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
"The enormous losses to (the PCA) - which have not only a severe financial impact but also would seriously damage its credibility and reputation - can only be imagined," the DAB added in the letter that was sent to both sides of the dispute.
The planned completion date for the expansion of the 50-mile (80-km) canal has already been delayed from 2014 to mid-2015.
If the canal authorities do not help pay for cost overruns, the consortium of construction companies - fronted by Spanish firm Sacyr - has threatened to suspend work on the project that aims to double the waterway's shipping capacity and bring in billions of dollars in new revenue for Panama.
The PCA has refused, warning the GUPC it could be dismissed and that other contractors could finish the project to build a third set of locks for the canal, the heart of the expansion.
The PCA, a semi-government entity, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the letter's contents. However, earlier on Wednesday, Panama's President Ricardo Martinelli vowed the work would be completed.
"Panama has the resources, and will finish work by 2015 regardless of what happens, rain, thunder or lightning," he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The DAB letter described the GUPC's shortfall as "genuine" but added the $3.12 billion bid which the consortium made to clinch the deal for the locks in 2009 was likely too low.
That bid was $1 billion below the second-lowest offer tendered by a group fronted by U.S. engineering company Bechtel. Top Panamanian officials and others close to the deal have raised concerns that the bid was too low.
"But horsewhipping or pointing the finger of blame will not save this project," the DAB wrote...............http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/23/us-sacyr-panama-idUSBREA0M0A020140123?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
23/1/24
Italy, Spain say want rapid end to Panama Canal dispute...
ReplyDelete(Reuters) - Italy and Spain are both committed to finding a rapid solution to a dispute which is threatening to halt work on widening the Panama canal, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta and his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy said on Monday.
"We think it is absolutely fundamental that we manage to solve this controversy, this is a primary interest for Italy and Spain," Letta said at a joint news conference with Rajoy in Rome.
A consortium of construction companies, led by Spain's Sacyr, has threatened to halt work on expanding the Panama Canal unless a dispute over cost overruns is resolved.
Rajoy echoed Letta's words, adding that a halt in the works would cause "serious damage."
(Reporting By Gavin Jones and Sarah White)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/27/us-panama-canal-letta-idUSBREA0Q10220140127?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
27/1/14
No hay acuerdo entre el Canal de Panamá y Sacyr para relanzar la obra....
ReplyDeleteSacyr se desploma tras concluir sin acuerdo las negociaciones para relanzar las obras del Canal
Las acciones de Sacyr han llegado a registrar pérdidas superiores al 8% en los primeros instantes de negociación en la Bolsa de Madrid, después de que haya finalizado sin acuerdo el plazo para que el consorcio de empresas que lidera la constructora española llegue a un acuerdo con la Autoridad del Canal de Panamá que garantice culminar las obras de ampliación de esta infraestructura.
Sacyr, que en la sesión del martes había subido más de un 6% ante la perspectiva de un inminente acuerdo, moderaba su caída hasta el entorno del 5%.
El plazo que se impusieron la Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP) y el Grupo Unidos por el Canal -el consorcio empresarial liderado por la española Sacyr- ha concluido en la medianoche del martes al miércoles (6.00 hora peninsular española) sin que se haya logrado un acuerdo para relanzar las obras, ha informado el diario panameño 'La Prensa'.
Es la tercera ocasión en que la Autoridad del Canal y el consorcio empresarial se dan un plazo para alcanzar un acuerdo y no logran conseguirlo. Se espera que la ACP se pronuncie a lo largo de la jornada.
Tras una intensa sesión de conversaciones, encabezadas por los equipos legales de las partes, la tercera etapa de negociación se cerró a última hora del martes sin ningún acuerdo...............http://www.elmundo.es/economia/2014/02/05/52f1ed40268e3e04748b456c.html
5/2/14
Talks break down in Panama Canal contract dispute...
Delete(Reuters) - A planned extension of the Panama Canal, one of the world's most important shipping routes, was thrown into doubt on Wednesday after a group of companies said its talks with Panama's government over how to expand the canal had fallen apart.
Group United for the Canal, a consortium led by Spanish builder Sacyr, said in a statement that the government's canal authority had broken off talks on who will pay some $1.6 billion needed to complete the ambitious project.
A Panama Canal Authority official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that most work on the expansion had stopped, after the discussions broke down.
The canal authority was set to hold a news conference.
The failure of the talks was the latest setback to a project mired in disputes since the consortium, which also includes Italy's Salini Impregilo as well as a Belgian and Panamanian firm, won a bid to double the capacity of the near 50-mile transoceanic cargo route.
Disagreements over cost overruns had already reached international courts and talks between the two sides over how to find the additional cash to finish the project had been extended twice.
It was unclear whether Wednesday's breakdown was final................http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/05/us-sacyr-panama-idUSBREA140ZG20140205?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
5/2/14
Los responsables del Canal denuncian que Sacyr ya ha paralizado las obras....
ReplyDelete1. Quijano advierte de que desde la ACP impedirán que los trabajos se paren indefinidamente
2. Manrique afirma que Sacyr ha lanzado una última oferta para evitar el bloqueo
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El presidente de la Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP), Jorge Quijano, ha acusado este miércoles al Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC) haber paralizado las obras de ampliación. El anuncio de Quijano sigue a la ruptura de las negociaciones en la madrugada de este martes tras el final del plazo que se habían dado las partes para buscar una salida negociada a los problemas financieros que arrastra el proyecto. No obstante, el responsable de la institución panameña ha advertido de que no van a permitir que las obras se detengan indefinidamente, ya que mantienen el objetivo de que esté acabado en 2015.
“Nos pusieron una amenaza sobre la mesa y hoy (por este miércoles) la han ejecutado”, ha declarado Quijano antes de negar que haya sido la ACP la responsable de romper las negociaciones, tal y como ha asegurado Sacyr en un comunicado remitido horas antes a la CNMV, el regulador bursátil español. En cualquier caso, ha avanzado que, a partir de este momento, las autoridades panameñas inician “un cuidadoso proceso de toma de decisiones, de acuerdo con lo que indica el contrato” firmado por las dos partes en 2009.................http://economia.elpais.com/economia/2014/02/05/actualidad/1391608921_816025.html
5/2/14