The reconstruction of the Panama Canal is in full swing and will be fully completed by the end of the second quarter of next year. In December next year, work will be carried out on the Atlantic part of the canal, and in four months the reconstruction of the Pacific sector will also be completed..
The issue of expanding the canal began to be dealt with six years ago; it is assumed that the restoration work will cost about $ 5 billion. After the completion of the restoration of the facility, the capacity of the Panama Canal will be able to increase up to two times.
At the same time, from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic it will be possible to transport almost 600 million tons of cargo per year..
Competitive option
However, the channel may have a new competitor. And this is not fishing in Astrakhan, which many Russians like, but Nicaragua, which announced its intentions to create an alternative canal six hundred kilometers from the existing one. The parliament of this country has already passed the necessary law, transferring to the concession a new project of the company HK Investment Nicaragua Canal Co.
The construction of such a structure will cost the country about forty billion dollars. The existing canal was put into operation at the beginning of the twenties of the last century. It handles approximately four percent of all global commercial cargo transportation, as well as about sixteen percent of commercial cargo transportation from the United States..
However, it has long ceased to respond to modern cargo traffic, because its design is not capable of handling most modern ships..
