Chinese company to build a $40 billion Nicaraguan canal
- 9 years ago
Originally published on December 25, 2013
Nicaragua is rapidly moving ahead with a plan to allow Chinese company HKND Group to build a huge canal connecting the country's Pacific and Atlantic coasts.
The $40 billion Nicaraguan canal project is expected to begin construction by the end of 2014 and could be completed by 2020. Beginning at the Pacific coast port of Brito, ships will cross Lake Nicaragua, before snaking through the jungle towards the country's Caribbean lowlands and the town of Bluefields on the eastern Coast.
The 286-kilometer-long canal will be more than three times the length of the Panama Canal. It needs to earn $1 billion annually to turn a profit, meaning it would have to immediately draw half of the Panama canal's current ship traffic.
The Nicaraguan canal will measure 83 meters in width, 27.6 meters in depth and is designed for 400,000-ton-class vessels whereas the Panama Canal only allows vessels with a capacity below 150,000 tons. The Nicaraguan canal will accommodate large LNG carriers and oil tankers from the US and Venezuela heading toward China.The canal is expected to generate annual revenue of at least $5.5 billion, and could capture 4.5% of global cargo shipping traffic.
The HKND Group will pay Nicaragua $10 million a year for 10 years and gradually transfer ownership to Nicaragua over a century. The project is said to be able to double Nicaragua's $10 billion GDP by 2018. The deal also allows the company to build tax-free side projects including ports on Nicaragua's Pacific and Atlantic coasts, an oil pipeline bisecting the country, two free-trade zones and a cargo railway and an international airport.
However, environmental experts argue that the canal project could cause profound ecological damage to the country.
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Nicaragua is rapidly moving ahead with a plan to allow Chinese company HKND Group to build a huge canal connecting the country's Pacific and Atlantic coasts.
The $40 billion Nicaraguan canal project is expected to begin construction by the end of 2014 and could be completed by 2020. Beginning at the Pacific coast port of Brito, ships will cross Lake Nicaragua, before snaking through the jungle towards the country's Caribbean lowlands and the town of Bluefields on the eastern Coast.
The 286-kilometer-long canal will be more than three times the length of the Panama Canal. It needs to earn $1 billion annually to turn a profit, meaning it would have to immediately draw half of the Panama canal's current ship traffic.
The Nicaraguan canal will measure 83 meters in width, 27.6 meters in depth and is designed for 400,000-ton-class vessels whereas the Panama Canal only allows vessels with a capacity below 150,000 tons. The Nicaraguan canal will accommodate large LNG carriers and oil tankers from the US and Venezuela heading toward China.The canal is expected to generate annual revenue of at least $5.5 billion, and could capture 4.5% of global cargo shipping traffic.
The HKND Group will pay Nicaragua $10 million a year for 10 years and gradually transfer ownership to Nicaragua over a century. The project is said to be able to double Nicaragua's $10 billion GDP by 2018. The deal also allows the company to build tax-free side projects including ports on Nicaragua's Pacific and Atlantic coasts, an oil pipeline bisecting the country, two free-trade zones and a cargo railway and an international airport.
However, environmental experts argue that the canal project could cause profound ecological damage to the country.
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Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gos