The Nicaraguan Canal (Spanish: Canal de Nicaragua), formally the Nicaraguan Canal and Development Project (also referred to as the Nicaragua Grand Canal, or the Grand Interoceanic Canal) is a planned shipping route through Nicaragua to connect the Caribbean Sea (and therefore the Atlantic Ocean) with the Pacific Ocean. Its viability has been questioned by shipping experts and engineers. "Major works" such as dredging will take place after the finishing of a Pacific Ocean wharf, whose construction was planned to start in late 2016.
In June 2013, Nicaragua's National Assembly approved a bill to grant a 50-year concession to finance and manage the project to the private Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Company (HKND Group) headed by Wang Jing, a Chinese billionaire. The concession can be extended for another 50 years once the waterway is operational. Media reports have suggested the project would now be delayed or even possibly canceled because Wang's personal wealth declined greatly as a result of the 2015-16 Chinese stock market crash. The Nicaraguan government has failed to present reliable information about whether or not the project can be financed, thus casting doubt over whether or not it can be completed. The HKND Group says that financing will come from debt and equity sales and a potential initial public offering (IPO).
Scientists are concerned about the project's environmental impact, as Lake Nicaragua is Central America's key freshwater reservoir.
Construction of a canal using the San Juan River as an access route to Lake Nicaragua was first proposed in the early colonial era. The United States abandoned plans to construct a waterway in Nicaragua in the early 20th century after it purchased the French interests in the Panama Canal.
By May 2017, no concrete action had been reportedly taken constructing the canal and doubts were expressed about its financing.
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History
The idea of constructing a man-made waterway through Central America has been thought about throughout history. The colonial administration of New Spain conducted preliminary surveys. The routes suggested usually ran across Nicaragua, Panama, or the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico.
The history of attempts to build a Nicaragua canal connecting the Caribbean Sea and thus the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean goes back at least to 1825 when the Federal Republic of Central America hired surveyors to study a route via Lake Nicaragua, 32.7 metres (107 ft) above sea level. Many other proposals have followed. Despite the operation of the Panama Canal, which opened in 1914, interest in a Nicaragua canal has continued. With emergence of globalization, an increase in commerce and the cost of fuel, and the limitations of the Panama Canal, the concept of a second canal across the American land bridge became more attractive, and in 2006 the president of Nicaragua, Enrique Bolaños, announced an intention to proceed with such a project. Even with the Panama Canal expansion project, which began commercial operation to modern New Panamax vessels on 26 June 2016, some ships would be too big for the Panama Canal.
On 26 September 2012, the Nicaraguan Government and the newly formed Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Group (HKND) signed a memorandum of understanding that committed HKND to financing and building the "Nicaraguan Canal and Development Project". HKND Group is a private enterprise.
The Nicaraguan Government subsequently approved the Master Concession Agreement with HKND on 13 June 2013 thereby granting "the sole rights to the HKND Group to plan, design, construct and thereafter to operate and manage the Nicaragua Grand Canal and other related projects, including ports, a free trade zone, an international airport and other infrastructure development projects". The agreement will last for 50 years and is renewable for another 50 years. HKND will pay the Government of Nicaragua 10M USD annually for 10 years, and thereafter a portion of the revenue starting at 1% and increasing later. Stratfor indicated that after 10 years, ownership shares will periodically be handed over to Nicaragua, so that after 50 years Nicaragua would be the majority shareholder.
HKND Group has begun the study phase of development, to assess the technological and economic feasibility of constructing a canal in Nicaragua, as well as the potential environmental, social, and regional implications of various routes. The canal and other associated projects would be financed by investors throughout the world and would generate jobs for Nicaragua and other Central American countries.
Initial findings of the commercial analysis conducted by HKND Group indicate that the combined effect of growth in east-west trade and in ship sizes could provide a compelling argument for the construction of a second canal, substantially larger than the expanded Panama Canal, across Central America. Within 10 to 15 years, growth in global maritime trade is expected to cause congestion and delays in transit through the Panama Canal without a complementary route through the isthmus. Additionally, by 2030, the volume of trade that a Nicaragua Canal could serve will have grown by 240%.
On 10 June 2013, The Associated Press reported that the National Assembly's Infrastructure Committee voted nearly unanimously in favor of the project, with four members abstaining. On 13 June, Nicaragua's legislature passed the legislation granting the concession. On 15 June, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and the billionaire chairman of HKND Group, Wang Jing, signed the concession agreement giving HKND Group the rights to construct and manage the canal and associated projects for 50 years. An HKND Group press release read, "HKND Group Successfully Obtains Exclusive Right to Develop and Manage Nicaragua Grand Canal for 100 Years". Under the exclusive contract, Wang can skip building the canal (and making any payments to Nicaragua) and instead simply operate lucrative tax-free side projects.
Wang announced at a press briefing in June 2013 that he had successfully attracted global investors to the 40 billion USD project. In January 2014, Wang and President Ortega issued a statement that the project's construction would begin in December 2014, and that it would be completed in 2019.
On 7 July 2014, a 278 kilometres (173 mi) route for the Nicaragua Canal was approved. The route starts from the mouth of the Brito River on the Pacific side, passes through Lake Nicaragua, and ends in the Punta Gorda River on the Caribbean. The proposed canal would be between 230 meters and 520 meters (754.6 feet and 1,706 feet) wide and 27.6 metres (91 ft) deep. The Toronto Star noted that Chinese engineer Dong Yung Song said the canal's design called for the creation of a 400-square-kilometre (150 sq mi) artificial lake. The water to fill the canal's giant locks would come from the artificial lake, not from Lake Nicaragua.
Daniel Ortega whose government approved the agreement within one week in June 2013 sees the canal as the second phase of the Nicaraguan Revolution, predicting that it will pull Nicaragua out of poverty and lead to the creation of 250,000 jobs, but HKND says the project will create 50,000 jobs, though about half will come from abroad, mainly China.
The Moscow Times has reported that Russia will help build the Nicaragua Canal, viewing the project in part as an opportunity to pursue strategic interests in the region. Construction was to begin on 29 December 2014, and officially started a week earlier. However, due to Nicaragua's volatile climate and seismic activity, feasibility concerns have emerged over the project's future. In November 2015 HKND announced that there would be a delay in the construction of locks and excavations until late 2016 in order to fine-tune the design.
The Nicaragua canal project saw business rivalry greatly intensify in late 2014. China Harbor Engineering Company, an experienced construction company, offered to design, construct, and finance a fourth set of locks in Panama, where it opened a regional headquarters. If built to the width of the proposed Nicaragua Canal, it would cut across far fewer kilometers, and still cost only $10 billion USD, according to the firm. Panama is in a much better financial situation than Nicaragua to afford taking on such debt, and already has a stream of income from its existing canals. Furthermore, the Suez Canal, with financing already complete, has put competitive pressure on Panama, by initiating an expansion, in August 2014, to double transit capacity, and finishing before the third set of locks in Panama is complete.
Alternative motives have been explored and other projects have taken priority against the water transportation venture. Bloomberg reports that "conspiracy theories abound" including the project is a land grab by Ortega, an attempt by Ortega to "whip up" support in elections, and part of a Chinese plan to gain influence in the region.
Opposition
Protests against the canal's construction occurred shortly after the official ceremony marking its beginning. Farmers feared it could cause their eviction.
Opposition leader Eliseo Nuñez has called the deal "part of one of the biggest international scams in the world." Legal challenges that the deal violates constitutional rights were rejected by the Supreme Court of Nicaragua and a retrospective rewriting of the Constitution of Nicaragua placed HKND beyond legal challenge. HKND has been granted the right to expropriate land within 5 km (3.1 mi) on each side of the canal and pay only cadastral value, not market value, for property. Wang, however, promised to pay fair market value. The estimates of the number of people who will be displaced range from 29,000 to more than 100,000. There are indications of local opposition to intended expropriations. Thus, according to an activist leader, an unrest in Rivas in December 2014 in opposition to the canal, left two protesters dead, although no evidence was ever produced to justify his claim. The CIDH, Nicaragua's Human Rights Commission, has strongly criticized the government for not looking into the project's effect on citizens, not to mention the fact that citizens were not involved in decision-making.
Status
As of November 2016, the president of the canal commission, Manual Coronel Kautz said "According to our schedule, we should initiate major works by the end of the year." However, Carlos Fernando Chamorro, editor of the Confidencial newspaper, said "If the People's Republic of China does not step forward, it won't happen. Wang Jing does not have the reputation to push this through. If it is just him, then the chances of this happening are zero. If the PRC steps in, then it is a big possibility."
As of August 2016, no construction has taken place. No "major works" such as dredging will take place until after a Pacific Ocean wharf is finished and the wharf's construction will not start until sometime after August 2016.
On 3 April 2016, the New York Times reported that construction has not started and that Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega had not mentioned the Canal in months. The report stated that cows were still grazing in the field where Wang held his ground-breaking ceremony. Wang has financial setbacks unrelated to the Nicaragua project when he lost 80% of his net worth during the 2015-16 Chinese stock market turbulence.
As of May 2017, the PanAm Post indicated that "no concrete action has been taken to begin the project" and suggested that the project is either "paralyzed, or nonexistent".
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Description
The construction company has provided a project description for review on open source, dated December 2014. The canal as planned will be 259.4 kilometres (161.2 mi) and will have three sections. The West Canal runs from Brito on the Pacific Ocean up the Rio Brito valley, crosses the continental divide, and after passing through the Rio Las Lajas valley enters Lake Nicaragua; its length is 25.9 km. The Nicaragua Lake section measures 106.8 km and runs from 4 km south of San Jorge to 8 km south of San Miguelito. The Eastern Canal is the longest section at 126.7 km and will be built along the Rio Tule valley through the Caribbean highland to the Rio Punta Gorda valley to meet the Caribbean Sea. A channel will have to be dug in the lake bottom, as it is not deep enough for the large vessels that can transit the canal.
Both the West Canal and the East Canal will each have one lock with 3 consecutive chambers to raise ships to the level of Lake Nicaragua that has an average water elevation of 31.3 m, range 30.2-33.0 m. The western Brito Lock is 14.5 km inland from the Pacific, and the eastern Camilo Lock is 13.7 km inland from the Caribbean Sea. The dimensions of each of the locks' chambers are 520 m (1,706 ft) long, 75 m (246 ft) wide, and 27.6 m (91 ft) threshold depth. As locks generally define the limit on the size of ships that can be handled, the Nicaragua Canal is being designed to allow passage for larger ships than those that pass through the Panama Canal. For comparison, the new third set of locks in the Panama expansion will only be 427 m (1,401 ft) long, 55 m (180 ft) wide, and 18.3 m (60 ft) deep.
No water from Lake Nicaragua is planned to be used to flood the locks; water will come from local rivers and recycling using water saving basins. The Camilo lock will be built adjacent to a new dam of the upper Punta Gorda River that creates a reservoir. This Atlanta Reservoir (or Lake Atlanta) will have a surface area of 395 km2. West of the Atlanta reservoir, the Rio Agua Zarca will be dammed to create a second reservoir. This reservoir would have a surface area of 48.5 km2 and hold 1,100 gigalitres. A hydropower facility will be built at the dam and is expected to generate over 10 megawatts of power to be used for Camilo Lock operations. Both locks would also be connected to the country's power grid and have back-up generator facilities. It is estimated that each lock will use about 9 megawatts of power.
At each oceanic canal entrance, breakwaters and port facilities will be constructed. The Pacific port will be named Brito Port and the Caribbean one Aguila Port. Initially these two ports will help during construction and later become international ports. Their design capacity is 1.68 million TEU/year and 2.5 million TEU/year, respectively. Existing port facilities at Corinto and Bluefields will be improved to allow for shipment of material to the entry ports under construction. Fuel storage sites will be placed at the two port sites. Four lighthouses will be constructed at the entrances to the East and West Canals. In addition, the channel entrance on sea will be marked on both sides with a large sailing buoy about 3 kilometres (2 mi) offshore and 2 light buoys will mark the passage through Lake Nicaragua. Navigation and lock control centers will be established.
A free trade zone with commercial facilities as well as tourist hotels and an international airport at Rivas are planned to be built when canal construction is advanced.
Appropriate road improvements are planned. The Pan-American Highway would cross the canal via a bridge. Nicaragua Route 25 (Acoyapa-San Carlos) on the eastern side of Lake Nicaragua would get a ferry service. Both ports would get public road connections. HKND plans to construct a private gravel maintenance road on both sides of the canal.
The estimate for the workforce in 2020 when the project is completed is 3,700 people, and 12,700 in 2050 when traffic has increased.
Transit time will be about 30 hours. It is projected that by 2020 3,576 ships will pass the canal annually. The transit rate is expected to increase to 4,138 by 2030, and to 5,097 by 2050. For comparison, the Panama Canal handled 12,855 transits in 2009.
Construction
As of November 2016, no significant construction has taken place. No "major works" such as dredging are planned to take place until after a Pacific Ocean wharf is finished; the wharf's construction will not start until sometime after August 2016.
The apparent lack of experience of Wang and his HKND Group in large-scale engineering has been cited as a risk. Due to Nicaragua's volatile climate and seismic activity, it has also been questioned whether or not the canal is feasible.
On December 22, 2014, the China-backed canal announced construction started in Rivas, Nicaragua. Wang spoke during the starting ceremony of the first works of the Interoceanic Grand Canal in Brito town. Construction of the new waterway will by HKND Group--Hong Kong-based HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co Ltd., which is controlled by Wang. According to HKND's announced plans, as of January 2015, the project entails the canal's development and building, and a supporting infrastructure. There will be four general phases. The pre-construction phase included getting permits, acquiring land and machinery and finalizing designs and plans. The early construction phase, started in December 2014, will last through September 2015: it secures access to construction sites, provides the critical infrastructure and mobilizes the workforce. During the construction phase from September 2015 to March 2020, the canal will be dug and the locks built along with accompanying infrastructure. The commissioning phase from April 2020 to June 2020 includes lock testing and lock and tug boat operator training.
HKND describes the project as the largest civil earthmoving operation in history. Most of this will consist of dry excavation to form the canal with an estimate of 4,019 MCM (million cubic metres) of rock and soil. There will be 739 MCM of freshwater dredging (Lake Nicaragua) and 241 MCM of marine dredging. Marine dredging of the oceanic access canal will be required on the Pacific side for 1.7 km and on the Caribbean Sea for 14.4 km. Disposal of excavation material will be done usually along the canal in designated disposal areas typically within 3 km of the canal.
Two concrete plants and a steel plant are planned to support the project. While cement will probably be imported, construction aggregate will come from local quarries near the two locks.
HKND estimates that about 50,000 people will be employed during the 5-year construction, about half of them from Nicaragua, 25% from China, and the remainder from various countries. 1,400 workers will be in office or administrative positions and the rest in the field. The management offices will be rented or purchased near Rivas. Workers will live in one of nine camps, which besides food and shelter would also provide health care and security. These are "closed" camps, that is workers cannot leave the camp unless part of an organized activity. The work schedule calls for 12-hour shifts for seven days a week. Domestic workers work two weeks and get one week off, while foreign workers are 6 weeks on and get 2 weeks off (management) or 22 weeks on, 4 weeks off (blue collar workers).
On 2 September 2015, Pang Wai Kwok (Executive VP of HKND Group) was interviewed by Nicaraguan journalist Carlos Solis and said up to 3,000 people might be employed on the canal project within the year. However, the labor force depends on the contract bid's winner and Mr. Kwok said anyone in the world is eligible to work on the canal.
Financing
Project costs are estimated in the region of 40 to 50 billion US dollars Beside private money provided by Wang at the start-up, further influx of financial support is expected from investors. An IPO was reported to be in preparation by the end of 2014. XCMG, a state-owned Chinese construction company will provide machinery and take 1.5 to 3% of HKND shares in return.
As of the end of 2014, no major investors had been named. There had been speculation that the Chinese government would provide financial backing for the project, but China, as well as Wang, denied this. Wang lost nearly 85% of his wealth during the 2015 Chinese stock market crash, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The economic development potential for the canal project is relatively measurable with Panama, however the World Bank describes the country of Nicaragua as the second poorest in Latin America and the Caribbean. The World Bank has compiled a data list of projects that the impoverished nation has on record and the majority of the efforts are geared towards infrastructure and agricultural needs, but there is no explicit title project that will support the canal line of effort.
Wang admitted that the project has financial, political and engineering risks. With the high cost of the project that independently has been estimated to be about 100 billion US dollars, it remains to be seen if it will be fully funded. The project is supposed to be completed in 2020, but Stratfor, an analyst agency, believes this target to be an "unrealistic goal".
While the Nicaraguan National Bank reserves serve as collateral on the part of Nicaragua, HKND has no such potential liability.
Impact
Environmental
A major environmental concern is the project's impact on Lake Nicaragua, the largest source of freshwater in Nicaragua. An oil spill would have serious and lasting consequences. Other problems include the possibility of dredging bringing up toxic sediments, the disruption of migration patterns of animal species, and the potential to introduce invasive species to the Lake. Environmental studies had not been released by HKND when the project officially started in December 2014. The Nicaraguan Academy of Sciences noted that hundreds of thousands of hectares of pristine forests and wetlands would be destroyed, and pointed out that the environmental study performed for the canal was not independent.
The protesters also fear that the canal will bring massive environmental destruction to Lake Nicaragua and the Atlantic Autonomous Regions. 400,000 hectares of tropical rain forest and wetlands would be destroyed. It would also encroach upon the habitats of animals such as Baird's tapir, the spider monkey and the jaguar.
Safety
Richard Condit, from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, believes that the project could be used as leverage for forest protection in a country that currently lacks "institutional capacity" to meet conservation needs. A Canadian pilot was the first fatality during the Hong Kong-led Nicaragua Canal project as of October 2, 2015. Historically, the construction phase has caused the highest number of casualties as noted during the French effort on the Panama Canal. Mr. Atkinson was flying alone on the western side of Lake Nicaragua during an aerial survey.
Sustainability
The survey site was on the same side as NicarAgua-Dulce which is the only ecotourism group in Nicaragua that is affiliated with The International Ecotourism Society and it is located north of the proposed canal site. Falling in line with ecotourism, Nicaragua's Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources has promoted formal workshops at each level of education (primary, secondary and post-secondary), however there is no curriculum relevant to the pending canal project. The American-led Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD) is another partner that provides training initiatives to Nicaraguans that cannot access formal education. One of FSD's support sites is located at Tola which is within close proximity of the proposed Brito-Pacific canal opening.
Economic impact
As the Panama Canal still has capacity and has completed its expansion project, projections for the Nicaragua canal's traffic may be optimistic. While the proposed Nicaragua Canal would be wide enough to accommodate Triple E class of mega container ships, which are too wide for the expanded Panama Canal, few ports are able to handle these ships at the present. Further, a coast-to-coast railway line may be built by China in Honduras and could affect utilization of the Nicaragua Canal. Also, North American land bridges in Mexico and the United States will compete in the traffic between Asia and the United States' east coast. Thus, competition may undermine the Nicaragua Canal's economic viability.
The canal will affect neighboring economies, like Honduras and El Salvador, as they are part of the commercial treaty known as North Triangle of Central America (Triángulo Norte de Centroamérica). The GDP of each nation will be influenced by expanded export/import operations and trade cooperation through agencies like the promotion authority in El Salvador.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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