Canal repairs to be complete in January

Repairs to fissures in the new lock gates for the Panama Canal are set to be complete in mid-January, the construction consortium has told officials.

But the Panama Canal Administration (ACP) said consortium Grupos Unido por el Canal (GUPC) reported that a new completion date for the widened canal has yet to be set.

But GUPC is in conversations with vendors and subcontractors to find strategies to mitigate the impact on the completion date, ACP said.

The project to add a third set of wider locks is scheduled to be complete in April, but the appearance of fissures in the new gates has led to some uncertainty about that already delayed start date.

After the repairs are complete, GUPC will continue testing the locks.