Zurich To Provide Surety Bond To Panama Canal Consortium

NU Online News Service, Aug. 19, 3:05 p.m. EDT

Zurich in North America's Surety, Credit and Political Risk group said it will provide a surety bond for the consortium responsible for construction to expand the Panama Canal.

The project, estimated at $5.25 billion, involves the building of three locks parallel to the older, existing locks, to allow for today's larger ships, Zurich said. The new locks will have a length of 1,400 feet, a width of 180 feet and a depth of 60 feet, as compared to the old locks which were 965-foot length, 110-foot width and 42-foot depth.

Completion of construction is scheduled for 2014, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the canal's opening.

In a recent briefing given to U.S. government representatives, Panama Canal Authority (ACP) administrator/CEO Alberto Alem?n Zubieta said, "The Panama Canal Expansion Program, which will allow a greater number of ships and larger vessels to transit the canal, is immensely important to the people of Panama and the global maritime industry.

"To ensure expansion continues to move ahead on time and on budget, the ACP has created an airtight contracting process. This process has proven extremely successful in acquiring the goods and services needed for expansion and has set a new standard for fairness, rigor and transparency."

According to Zurich, the multinational consortium of contractors includes Sacyr Vallehermoso (Spain), Impregilo (Italy), Jan de Nul (Belgium) and Constructora Urbana (Panama).

"Part of Zurich's surety strategy is to expand our customer base and establish a framework to provide global surety bonds," said Daniel Riordan, president of Zurich in North America's Surety, Credit and Political Risk group.

He said the canal job "is one of the largest projects we've ever bonded and is further proof that Zurich's broad experience, capabilities and global footprint position us to serve our customers, wherever they are in the world."