PANAMA CITY—Shipbuilders are cranking out ever-bigger container vessels and the world's major ports are dredging deeper, all on account of an ambitious multibillion-dollar project to widen the Panama Canal—an endeavor currently stalled by a contract dispute.
More than just the canal is tangled up in the acrimonious battle between Panama and the builders over $1.6 billion in cost overruns.
"There are many cities, countries and port authorities who are spending billions of dollars in anticipation of the traffic that will come from that newly expanded canal," said Adam Putnam, Florida's commissioner of agriculture. "So, there will be an impact if there is an extended delay."
The dispute so far has halted construction for two weeks and now threatens to delay the project by at least three years beyond the proposed completion date of December 2015. Negotiators say they are hopeful of a settlement as soon as Tuesday.