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The Panama Canal Authority said it won an arbitration ruling on Friday for $265 million to be returned to it from the consortium that built a third set of locks for the key transoceanic waterway.The authority cited a decision from a Miami-based arbitration board it said was issued earlier on Friday.The GUPC consortium, which includes Spain's Sacyr SA and Italy's Impregilo International Infrastructures NV, no longer exists. Neither company could not be reached for comment after hours on Friday.Initiated in 2015, the case centered on disputed cost overruns largely dealing with concrete quality.

The head of the Panama Canal Authority said on Monday a Miami-based arbitration board rejected a demand by Spanish-led GUPC consortium for $192.8 million to cover cost overruns during the building of a third set of locks for the century-old waterway. GUPC or Grupo Unidos por el Canal includes Sacyr SA of Spain, Impregilo of Italy, Jan De Nul of Belgium and Constructura Urbana of Panama. The authority's chief executive, Jorge Quijano, announced the ruling in a post on his Facebook page. "We have been informed that we have won a major arbitration dealing with the expansion of the canal by the GUPC contractor for $192.8 million," Quijano wrote in a post.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) was informed by its contractor Grupo Unidos por el Canal, S.A. (GUPC) on Wednesday, June 1 that the Third Set of Locks have officially passed all performance tests and are now functionally completed to allow a safe, efficient and reliable operation of the new locks in accordance with the provisions of the contract. The ACP said it will conduct a detailed review of the submitted report in order to proceed with appropriate action and respond to the contractor, symbolizing a milestone toward the inauguration of the new lane on June 26.

The Panama Canal has announced that Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC), the consortium responsible for the design and construction of the third set of locks  project, has successfully completed testing of the reinforcements in sill #3 at the new Cocoli Locks in the Pacific. GUPC technical personnel, the designers, and Panama Canal Authority (ACP) specialists monitored the testing process, which consisted of gradually raising the water behind the lock gate to the level in which the seepage was first detected in sill #3 last August. Later, the testing was inspected by a team of independent experts, professors and structural engineers from the Technological University of Panama (UTP), all of whom expressed satisfaction with the final results.

The Panama Canal has announced that Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC), the consortium responsible for the design and construction of the Third Set of Locks Project, has successfully completed testing of the reinforcements in sill #3 of the Cocolí locks. GUPC technical personnel, the designers and Panama Canal Authority (ACP) specialists monitored the testing process which consisted of gradually raising the water behind the lock gate to the level in which the seepage was first detected in sill #3 last August. Later, the testing was inspected by a team of independent experts, professors and structural engineers from the Technological University of Panama (UTP), all of whom expressed satisfaction with the final results.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) announced that the first-ever expansion is 96 percent complete. A video of recent progress can be seen here. In line with this, ACP CEO/Administrator Jorge L. Quijano provided a next-step update at an industry event Friday in Panama City. Locks reinforcements are scheduled to be completed mid-January 2016. Testing of locks reinforcements and additional testing will occur next. In April, transit trial tests with a chartered vessel in the Atlantic locks will occur (following conversations with GUPC).

The opening of a newly expanded Panama Canal, previously scheduled for April, will be postponed due to cracks detected in the new set of locks that are the centerpiece of the $5.25 billion overhaul, EFE quotes Panama Canal Authority (ACP) head Jorge Quijano as saying. The interoceanic waterway agency was still planning for the inauguration to occur during the second quarter of 2016 and no later than June. Under the new timetable, the GUPC consortium that is carrying out the expansion will begin navigation tests in April, Quijano said in statements to business leaders that the ACP forwarded to EFE. "We moved it to April due to these problems we had," the administrator said.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) said it has received word from Grupo Unidos por el Canal, S.A. (GUPC), the main contractor for the design and construction of the Third Set of Locks project, that work to reinforce the sills in the new locks will be completed in January 2016. GUPC informed the ACP of the deadline during a meeting Thursday, November 28, to discuss the progress being made on the reinforcements work. As part of its remaining work, GUPC will continue conducting inspections and reinforcements of each individual sill. Afterward, GUPC plans to continue the electromechanical testing on the filling and emptying systems of the new locks. The ACP was also informed by GUPC that they have not yet identified a date for the completion of the new locks project.

The consortium in charge of the expansion of the Panama Canal, led by Sacyr reported that the fissures presented in the third set of locks will not delay the opening date scheduled for April 2016. The Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC), comprising the Sacyr Spanish and Italian Salini Impregilo, informed  Autoridfad Panama Canal (ACP), the authority that manages the waterway, that is repairing the gaps in the walls of the locks caused by lack of steel reinforcement, and ensure other structures preventively. "Cracks were detected in one of the walls," said a spokeswoman for the Spanish construction group Sacyr, lead member of the Grupo Unidos Por el Canal consortium responsible for the expansion project. The fissures were found on the canal's Pacific Locks, the spokeswoman added.

The seepage found in the Panama Canal’s third set of locks is said to be the result of an inadequate amount of steel reinforcement, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) announced today. ACP said it was informed by the contractor responsible for the design and construction of the locks, Grupo Unidos por el Canal, S.A. (GUPC), that the localized seepage found in the concrete sill between the lower and middle chamber of the canal’s expanded Pacific Locks was caused by insufficient steel reinforcement in the area under stress from condition testing.

Though cracks were detected in the concrete walls of one of the locks of the newly expanded Panama Canal last month, the  Panama Canal Authority (ACP) is maintaining an April 2016 start date for the revamped inter-oceanic waterway, reports Fox News. ACP informed that the April 2016 date remains unchanged. It was waiting for the GUPC consortium, led by Spanish construction giant Sacyr Vallehermoso, to deliver it a report on the seepage that also states whether it will result in any delay in completing the expansion. However, the waterway’s deputy administrator Manuel Benitez told Reuters “it is likely,” when asked if there was a risk of delay.

During the testing phase of the new Pacific locks for the Panama Canal, some water seepage was detected in a specific area of the new Pacific Locks in a section that separates the middle chamber and lower chamber, as they were being stressed tested through exposure to level differentials much higher than those required for normal operations, but that may occur during dry-chamber maintenance works in the future. The ACP is now awaiting a formal report from GUPC following detailed inspections. The report, will be inclusive of the root cause analysis conducted, as well as the recommended repair methodology. Upon evaluating the report's findings, the ACP will assess and communicate if the project's completion timeline will be altered in any way.

The filling of the Panama Canal’s new locks began in June, marking the start of a planned and methodical phase of operational testing of the Locks, including its culvert valves, maintenance bulkheads and gates. This stage of testing is meant to timely detect and correct any deficiencies in the project. The Panama Canal technical team is closely involved to ensure that all tests meet the quality standards established in the contract. As part of this testing, some water seepage…

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) expressed its satisfaction after the main contractor for the Third Set of Locks Project, Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC), and the National Union of Workers of Construction and Similar Industries (SUNTRACS) reached an agreement which supersedes the strike call in the new locks’ construction site in both the Atlantic and the Pacific sides. The ACP expects this agreement marks the continuation of a harmonious relationship between both parties, and thus the completion of the work as it is scheduled, which has now reached 93 percent completion.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) issued a press release stating it has learned of a National Union of Workers of Construction and Similar Industries (SUNTRACS) notice to strike issued to Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC), the main contractor for the Canal's third set of locks project, which is currently 93 percent complete. The ACP said it is deeply concerned about the situation and is closely following its developments as the authority’s business may be directly impacted if work is not carried out to deliver the project on time. The ACP said it has therefore encouraged both sides to reach an agreement on matters that, by law, only pertain to dealings between GUPC and SUNTRACS members.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has learned of the National Union of Workers of Construction and Similar Industries (SUNTRACS) notice to strike issued to Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC). GUPC is the main contractor for the Canal's third set of locks project, which is currently 93 percent complete. The ACP has repeatedly appealed to both sides to reach an agreement on matters that, by law, only pertain to dealings between GUPC and SUNTRACS members. The ACP, although the ultimate owner of the project, is in no way responsible for labor issues arising from any failure on the part of GUPC to meet labor demands by its subcontractors. On the contrary…

Water will start rushing into the newly expanded Panama Canal on Thursday (local time) in one area that was widened, ahead of the waterway's April 2016 re-inauguration. The area around the new Agua Fria locks in Gatun, on the Atlantic coast, will be the site of the preliminary tests, the Panama Canal Authority said. Completely filling up the first lock will take three to five months, according to the builders consortium Grupo Unidos Por el Canal (GUPC). The third set of locks is 85 % complete and the project is now focused on electro-mechanical installations laying the groundwork for finishing touches to ensue. GUPC says it will open five valves on the Atlantic side this week that will begin the flow of water into the new lock chambers.

Power management company Eaton has been awarded an additional $5.2-million contract to provide critical installation services for the Panama Canal Expansion Program. Eaton’s contract was awarded by Grupo Unidos por el Canal, SA (GUPC), the contractor responsible for the design and construction of the third set of locks of the expansion program under contract to the Panama Canal Authority. The expansion project is expected to be completed by the end of 2015 and operational in early 2016. Eaton has a decades-long history as a provider of power distribution products and solutions to the Panama Canal, including support for electrical system design and construction in 2011.

The Panama Canal Authority (PCA) and the consortium building a third set of locks for the inter-oceanic waterway said in separate statements that they will take a dispute over cement quality to international arbitration. The PCA has asked for an international arbitration panel to review a decision to award US$233 million to the consortium expanding the canal in a dispute over cement quality. The consortium, led by Spain's Sacyr and Italy's Salini Impregilo, and including Belgium's Jan de Nul and Panama's CUSA, said in January it had won US$233 million of the US$463 million it claimed in the dispute. In the latest chapter of an often thorny relationship between the authority…

The widened Panama Canal is expected to finally be up and running in April 2016, after months of delays and cost overruns, AFP reports. The expansion project area will allow bigger ships to transit, with two new sets of locks, one on the Pacific side and one on the Atlantic side. Grupo Unidos Por el Canal (GUPC) is carrying out the extensive upgrade to the canal's system of locks, to allow the waterway to accommodate ships carrying up to 14,000 containers of freight - triple the current size. The new shipping lane will be much wider, allowing larger vessels, including liquefied natural gas carriers, to pass through. For the last 100 years…

As it enters the final stretch of a massive expansion, the Panama Canal Authority is setting its sights on an even more ambitious project worth up to $17 billion that would allow it to handle the world's biggest ships. Workers are now installing giant, 22-story lock gates to accommodate larger "Post-Panamax" ships through the Canal, one of the world's busiest maritime routes. The project involves building a third set of locks on the Canal. It is being headed by Italy's Salini Impregilo  and Spain's Sacyr, and should open on April 1, 2016.

National Assembly will question two national leaders, among them the Panama Canal Administrator. The plenary of the National Assembly has approved a proposal to call Panama Canal Administrator Jorge Luis Quijano before the body to answer questions about the waterway's finances and the progress of the expansion. The proposal was presented by a group of deputies from different parties, including Leandro Avila and Raúl Pineda of the PRD, CD Deputy Dalia Bernal and Miguel Salas of the Panameñista party.

Widening the Panama Canal will cost more than budgeted due to billions of dollars in overruns by the consortium carrying out the work says a report from AFP. The canal's administrator Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC), which is overseeing upgrades to the canal's locks, has incurred overruns totaling as $2.39 billion. The expansion had been forecast to cost $5.25 billion. The expansion project, begun in 2007, was initially scheduled for completion in 2014. But the project's due date has been pushed back to early 2016. The expansion project consists of a new lane for shipping traffic that will have a total of 16 floodgates, eight on the Pacific Ocean side and eight on the Atlantic side.