Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has proposed building a new canal connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea to replace the Panama Canal.
Speaking at a China-Latin America and Caribbean business conference earlier this week in the capital Managua, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega announced the idea of a new canal to compete with the Panama Canal in Panama, according to bne IntelliNews.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega
The new canal will be 445 km long, starting at a proposed deep-water port at Bluefields on Nicaragua’s eastern Caribbean coast. It will then pass through the north of the country, passing through Lake Xolotlan before reaching the Pacific Ocean via the western port of Puerto Corinto.
President Ortega said that transiting the Panama Canal has become more complicated due to challenges with water levels and ship traffic, often leading to delays of several days. The 82-kilometer-long Panama Canal serves as a transit point for about 5% of global seaborne trade.
Map of the new canal project in Nicaragua
PHOTO: BNE INTELLINEWS SCREENSHOT
The Panama Canal Authority said the number of ships passing through the canal fell 29% in the past fiscal year due to severe drought. Between October 2023 and September 2024, only 9,944 ships passed through the Panama Canal, compared with 14,080 a year earlier.
Nicaragua previously had an ambitious canal project, but via a different route. The project had its license revoked in May.
The MSC Marie passed through the Panama Canal in August.
China’s CAMC has signed a contract with Nicaragua’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure to build the Bluefields port as part of the new project. Mr. Ortega said the new canal would consist of four sections and hoped to attract investment from both the United States and China. He said the United States had considered building a canal in Nicaragua since 1854.
Financial and environmental analysts have questioned the feasibility of the canal project in Nicaragua, but the government has stressed that infrastructure development will help boost economic growth and regional trade.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nicaragua-neu-tham-vong-canh-tranh-kenh-dao-panama-bang-tuyen-kenh-moi-185241121150009529.htm
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