The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has awarded IHC Engineering Services B.V. the contract for designing and manufacturing a backhoe dredge.
Five companies participated in the tender process: Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Indsutries Co., Ltd.; De Donge Shipbuilding; Heli Steelstrong LLC; Qinhuangdao China Harbour Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd. and Holland Shipyards BV.
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has awarded the contract to the company Jan De Nul. It will see the northern Pacific access channel deepened.
The $54.55 million project, located in the Gaillard Cut (known as Corte Culebra in Spanish), comprises the excavation and dredging of approximately 4 million cubic meters of matter. It is the last part of the Canal Expansion Program.
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) announced today that Dredging International N.V. has been awarded the contract to dredge an area of the Panama Canal's manmade body of water, Gatun Lake. The dredging project is another integral element of the Canal's Expansion Program.
"We are pleased with the competition for this contract for which several premier dredging firms from around the world submitted proposals," said ACP Executive Vice President of Engineering and Program Management Jorge L. Quijano. "The ACP has partnered with Dredging International N.V. in the past and we are confident in its proven expertise to deliver this important component of the Expansion Program. Not only has the ACP benefited from a competitive price that is within the estimated budget, but it is also assured of an effective, high quality execution."
6 companies bid for a contract which comprises widening and deepening the current navigation waterway at Gatún; it is part of the larger Panama Canal Expansion project.
The companies interested in the contract are Dredging International, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), Boskalis International, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock, Van Oord and Jan De Nul. Their proposals range from $39 million to $97 million.
Belgium company Jan de Nul N.V. was awarded the contract for dredging the Atlantic entrance of the Panama Canal expansion.
The contract is worth $89.6 million, and was awarded to the lowest bidder, informed the Panama Canal Authority.
"The rest of the bidders and their economic proposals: Joint Venture Boskalis Dredging International ($177.611.840); Van Oord Dredging ($162.182.828); China Harbour Engineering Co.
The Panama Canal Authority will proceed to analyze technical and financial aspects of the bids.
The selection process is a 'negotiated lowest price bid', so the names and proposed amounts of the participants will remain strictly confidential.
Dredging of the Atlantic end is a key element of the Panama Canal expansion project, in order to ensure that heavy ships can reach the new set of locks.
On Thursday the Panama Canal Authority will receive economic and technical bids for dredging the Atlantic side of the Canal.
The bidding process started on February, and comprises underwater dredging of 15 million m3 of seabed, 800.000 m3 of dry excavation and deepening to 15.5 meters the Atlantic entrance of the canal.
Local newspaper La Estrella reported the name of the participating companies: "Dredging International, Van Oord Dredging, Boskalis International, Retraneq, S.A., Jan de Mul Group, Chec Panamá, S.A & Pilotec, S.A., Canolvías, S.A., International Underground, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company and CUSA."