Canal construction and clarification

According to the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), it has never said the opening would be on August 15, 2014. As an ACP spokesperson explained, “When the lock project was awarded by us on July 15, 2009 we gave the contractor 1,883 days to complete which takes us to October 20, 2014. Since that time we have only ever said that we would complete the Canal expansion in 2014 to coincide with the Canal’s original opening. We have never said August 15, we have only talked about the year 2014 and we are mystified as to how people have come to believe otherwise.”

In the meantime, while professing satisfaction that the project is 20% accomplished and is on budget and on target for an October 20, 2014 completion, the spokesperson light-heartedly added, “Maybe it will be finished before October 20. The contractor is on an incentive payment and if he finishes early we have to pay him a lot of money, so who knows?”

Another point that ACP wanted clarified was that after October 20 a number of tests and sailings will still need to be carried out before the Canal can officially open. “We are more enthused than anyone in wishing to see the first commercial vessels using the Canal but we have to wait until the testing process is complete and at this time we are unable to say when that will be,” the ACP concluded.