Iran Eyes Involvement in Nicaragua Alternative to Panama Canal

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday August 25, 2016

Iran is considering involvement in an ambitious plan to build an alternative to the Panama Canal through Nicaragua, Iran's Press TV reports.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is understood to have discussed the country's possible involvement in the project during a visit to Nicaragua on Tuesday as part of a wider tour of Latin American nations that began in Cuba.

To exactly what level Iran could be involved was not revealed.

The $50 billion "Nicaragua Grand Canal" is being headed by Hong-Kong based HKND Group, work on which is slated to begin this year.

A study last year said the project was "fraught with risks and uncertainties," but Iranian media implied this view was coloured by US-China relations.

"The new route is also deeper and wider than the Panama Canal, triggering a flurry of resentment from the US and its allies which have tried to cast doubt on the project and question its viability," Press TV wrote.

"Moreover, China's involvement would be a direct challenge to the United States, which controlled the Panama Canal until 1999."

Ship & Bunker News Team
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