Nicaragua canal to break ground, hoping to rival Panama

AP ^ | December 21, 2014 | Staff

[C19fan]

As a conscripted soldier during the Contra War of the 1980s, Esteban Ruiz used to flee from battles because he didn't want to have to kill anyone. But now, as the 47-year-old farmer prepares to fight for his land, Ruiz insists, "I'm not going to run."

Ruiz's property on the banks of Nicaragua's Rio Grande sits in the path of a $50 billion transoceanic waterway set to break ground on Monday.

Nicaraguan officials will start building access roads on state-owned land as the first step in creating a canal expected to rival that of Panama - a project supporters say will directly employ 50,000 people and dramatically boost the country's GDP.

[C19fan]

The Hong Kong based company heading the project has zero experience in canal building or managing mega-projects. Panama is expanding their canal to handle larger ships that will carry almost 150% more containers than current Panamax ships.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Talk about an ecological disaster.

[2ndDivisionVet]

A man, a plan, a canal, Panama.

[VanDeKoik]

Just wait until the volcano gets you, and your little canal too!

[C19fan]

If I remember right the US was going for the Nicaragua route until someone in DC saw that stamp and the rest is history.

[pepsionice]

If you look at the original French company who did the Suez Canal....limited experience but they did a fantastic job. They tried to repeat it in Panama, and was an absolute failure. I think the Nicaragua route would be simpler in nature to the Panama Canal route. But there’s still massive locks involved, and no one has said how many ships they can handle per day. The Panama Canal typically handles around thirty ships a day.

[Travis McGee]

An old canal lock.

[thackney]

click map for full PDF.

[DoodleDawg]

The Hong Kong based company heading the project has zero experience in canal building or managing mega-projects. Panama is expanding their canal to handle larger ships that will carry almost 150% more containers than current Panamax ships.

A canal to nowhere.

[John S Mosby]

The real purpose of the “project” is to place chi-com troops in the country.... like the Cuban “advisors for the airport construction” we shot in Grenada. Remember?

This is some hollow lame handed shiite. And able to be “placed” under the novo-marxists and obamaumao looking the other way.

Time for the adults to take over, FReepers. Now!
The combo of domestic disturbance with this kind of strategic hegemony speaks of coordination. Plain and simple.
The chi-coms own the largest port site in the area of the Caribbean— in the Bahamas— large container ship port.

[KC_Conspirator]

Is that right? There is a freaking volcano overlooking the canal area in Nicaragua?

[Dalberg-Acton]

Sedan (nuclear test) from wikipedia.

Storax Sedan was a shallow underground nuclear test conducted in Area 10 of Yucca Flat at the Nevada National Security Site on 6 July 1962 as part of Operation Plowshare, a program to investigate the use of nuclear weapons for mining, cratering, and other civilian purposes.

[Capt. Tom]

Talk about an ecological disaster.

This could be the makings of another "The bigger the bundle, the bigger the bungle". -tom

[Cementjungle]

China had first approached Costa Rica about doing a canal project, but Costa Rica declined on worries about ecological issues. China did however build a great new stadium in San Jose (as a gift... but did get some land in the north to use for settlements). China also built the new toll highway from San Jose to the Pacific coast (and has the toll concessions for the next 10 years).

Panama is now getting close to completing the third set of locks which are big enough to handle the latest generation of super tankers.

It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out, but I do think it won't hurt to have a little competition to help keep the canal prices down. As it stands now, it costs well over a hundred thousand dollars for ships to pass through there.

[McGruff]

Looks like a few options.

[glorgau]

$50 billion?

That’s still cheaper than California’s High Speed rail project by scores of billions.

[Calvin Locke]

Back when Carter gave away the canal, I remember Nicaragua being mentioned as one of the possible alternatives.

Of course, China wasn't in the mix then, HK was still British, and Simon Bolivar is still right about Central and South America...

[thackney]

third set of locks which are big enough to handle the latest generation of super tankers.

Not that big.

locks having dimensions of 427 m (1400 ft) in length,
55m (180 ft) in width and
18.3 m (60 ft) in depth,
in order to accommodate larger ships called New Panamax

http://maritime-connector.com/wiki/panamax/

- - - -

The TI Class Super Tankers: The Fantastic Four
http://www.marineinsight.com/marine/the-ti-class-super-tankers-the-fantastic-four/

380 metres lengthwise,
68 metres breadth wise,
34 metres depth wise

[Zhang Fei]

An AP investigation last year found that HKND, which has no experience in canal-building or any project of this magnitude, had a poor track record, with enterprises failing to get off the ground in some 20 countries. (Its projects in China do appear to have been successful, however.)

The article appears to contradict itself. Projects in other countries may have failed because of difficulties in getting sign-offs from local communities. Not the first time this has happened. In Third World countries, the principal issue is the tendency to squeeze foreign companies until their projects are unprofitable, so many will abandon them rather than take significant losses. In developed countries, the authorities may sign-off on a project only to have massive latent opposition bubble up once local communities either (1) are stirred up by environmentalists or (2) get the impression that they are about to get the short end of the stick. It is ironically more difficult to get project sign-offs in Third World countries because the locals figure Santa has come to town and demand things that a developer cannot conceivably grant. But that's why they're Third World countries - development is impossible there.

[Jimmy Valentine]

Without American know how this will wind up like Delessups efforts in Panama