The Panama Canal Authority will announce today which of three groups, including one led by Bechtel Group Inc., is the frontrunner for a $3.4 billion contract to help double the waterway’s capacity. Bechtel is partnered with Mitsubishi Corp. and Wuchang Shipbuilding. Sacyr Vallehermoso SA of Spain has joined with Italy’s Impregilo SpA. Spain’s Actividades de Construccion & Servicios SA and Acciona SA are competing alongside Hochtief AG. The best bid for the lock-building order will be announced at 9 a.m. local time.
“We will know the best-valued proposal out there,” canal spokeswoman Teresa Arosemena said in an e-mail. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean that will be the winning proposal.”
The tender is the first part of a widening project, scheduled to be completed by 2014. The Central American country voted in October 2006 to widen the 80 kilometer (50-mile) long canal to allow larger ships to transit between the world’s two biggest oceans in under 10 hours.
The three groups submitted sealed bids March 3 for the main part of the widening project, valued at $5.25 billion in its entirety. Their bids will carry a 45 percent weight, while the technical analysis will be worth 55 percent in a points system, Arosemena said. There will be additional steps before the contract is awarded, she added, without giving details.
The cost of the project, including the financing, will be paid for by 2018 via an increase in toll income, according to a company presentation.
Budget Overshoot
The ACP, owned by the Panamanian state, may have to boost the budget for the project if the three proposals exceed the target price, Chief Executive Officer Alberto Aleman said July 6 on a call. The bids are 35 percent over the budget, Spanish newspaper Cinco Dias reporting in May, citing an unidentified executive at a Spanish company involved in the tender.
The new locks will be 427 meters (1,400 feet) long by 55 meters wide and 18.3 meters deep. The cost of building them as well as their associated water tanks is budgeted at $3.35 billion. The project got the backing of 78 percent of the population in the referendum.
“We will know the best-valued proposal out there,” canal spokeswoman Teresa Arosemena said in an e-mail. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean that will be the winning proposal.”
The tender is the first part of a widening project, scheduled to be completed by 2014. The Central American country voted in October 2006 to widen the 80 kilometer (50-mile) long canal to allow larger ships to transit between the world’s two biggest oceans in under 10 hours.
The three groups submitted sealed bids March 3 for the main part of the widening project, valued at $5.25 billion in its entirety. Their bids will carry a 45 percent weight, while the technical analysis will be worth 55 percent in a points system, Arosemena said. There will be additional steps before the contract is awarded, she added, without giving details.
The cost of the project, including the financing, will be paid for by 2018 via an increase in toll income, according to a company presentation.
Budget Overshoot
The ACP, owned by the Panamanian state, may have to boost the budget for the project if the three proposals exceed the target price, Chief Executive Officer Alberto Aleman said July 6 on a call. The bids are 35 percent over the budget, Spanish newspaper Cinco Dias reporting in May, citing an unidentified executive at a Spanish company involved in the tender.
The new locks will be 427 meters (1,400 feet) long by 55 meters wide and 18.3 meters deep. The cost of building them as well as their associated water tanks is budgeted at $3.35 billion. The project got the backing of 78 percent of the population in the referendum.