Beijing Not Involved in Nicaragua Canal, Executive Says

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Wall Street Journal

Beijing Not Involved in Nicaragua Canal, Executive Says
June 25, 2013, 11:47 a.m. ET

BEIJING—The Chinese executive at the center of an ambitious $40 billion plan to build a Nicaraguan canal to rival Panama's sought on Tuesday to quell skepticism surrounding the project, saying the Chinese government wasn't involved and that he would approach major banks about funding it.

In a news conference on Tuesday, telecommunications executive Wang Jing also hinted at more details of the source of his own personal fortunes, saying much of it stems from gold-mining holdings in Southeast Asia as well as unspecified investments in sports and aviation. Mr. Wang said he would release further details in coming months.

"We will apply international, transparent standard to it, which can be accepted by investors world-wide," he said.

Mr. Wang is chairman and chief executive of HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co., of which he said he owns 100%. Earlier this month, Nicaraguan lawmakers gave the Hong Kong-based company the right to build a canal connecting the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean in an effort to boost economic growth.

He is also chairman and a major shareholder of Beijing-based Xinwei Telecom Enterprise Group, which makes telecommunications and surveillance equipment. Mr. Wang on Tuesday said he owned close to 40% of the company, though he added Xinwei wasn't connected to the Nicaraguan canal project. In a September filing with Beijing authorities, the company said Mr. Wang held a 38% stake. Based on a second filing that same month, that would value his stake at $1.13 billion, though that value is based on a separate transaction with a state-controlled company that may not fully reflect market dynamics.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323998604578567333829410570.html

[cosmicone]

1. This new canal

will get all the Northern hemisphere business because it will save almost 890 miles in the total travel.

[SunSeeker]

2. "he would release further details in coming months"= needs time to get story straight. nt

[Coyotl]

7. OFCS!

[Tobin S.]

3. What's the point in that?

Is there demand for another canal through Central America? Is the Panama Canal bottle-necked with ships? Are there strategic motivations?

[think]

4. Currently the bigger ships won't fit in the Panama Canal

Expanded Panama Canal sparks race for bigger cargo ships
From Our Press Services Posted January 14, 2013 at 4:28 p.m.


PANAMA CITY — This is a story about big, and how one of the biggest construction projects in the world, the remaking of the Panama Canal, will let bigger boats sail into deeper harbors, where authorities are spending billions dredging channels, blasting tunnels and buying cranes from China the size of 14-story buildings to accommodate super-sized cargo.

~Snip~

But with the $5.25 billion expansion of the Panama Canal now officially half complete, a scramble is on among the hemisphere's ports to lure a new generation of elephantine cargo ships, bulk carriers and automobile haulers to their harbors, where boosters envision an economic boom.

These new "post-Panamax" ships are the length of aircraft carriers. From the waterline, they're 190 feet tall, or nearly twice the height of the Lincoln Memorial. The ships can carry as many as 12,000 containers, or about a million flat-screen TVs.

The crew? A dozen men.

A deeper, wider Panama Canal with its two new flights of triple locks will double existing canal capacity and allow transit for vessels with three times the cargo when the upgraded passageway opens for business in early 2015.

Full article:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/jan/14/expanded-panama-canal-sparks-race-for-bigger/

[Tobin S.]

5. 10-4. Thank you. n/t

[yellowcanine]

10. But by 2015 when the rebuild is finished most will.

Last edited Thu Jun 27, 2013, 12:43 PM - Edit history (1)

It is doubtful that private banks would provide funding for this without a lot of evidence that another canal could be profitable. Most of these large ships aren't even built yet and major port upgrades to handle them are just beginning to be built. It could be a number of years after 2015 before it is clear as to what future demand might be for an additional canal. Banks are not going to go out on the limb for a market which may be a decade or more away or may not even exist at all.

[Judi Lynn]

6. New canal a lifeline for energy

New canal a lifeline for energy
Updated: 2013-06-26 02:25
By WEI TIAN and XING ZHIGANG ( China Daily)

Analysts warn of risks for massive Nicaragua project worth $40b

The Chinese businessman behind an ambitious plan to build a waterway across Nicaragua to rival the Panama Canal stressed on Tuesday that the new canal will serve as a lifeline for global energy trade when completed in 2020.

Wang Jing, 40, a Beijing native, said at a news conference that the $40 billion project would break ground in late 2014 and complete construction within six years.

Hong Kong-based HKND Group, an infrastructure development company wholly owned by Wang, will be responsible for financing the project before construction begins. But Wang said the project would also introduce global investors, and he has also been in touch with energy companies.

The new canal is expected to generate annual revenue of at least $5.5 billion, according to an initial estimate, because of the increasing Chinese demand for coal and oil in the region and the shift of US energy policy to more exports, Wang said.

Although the Panama Canal has invested $5.3 billion in an expansion project since 2007, Wang said it couldn't meet the growing maritime trade between East and West.

"The Nicaragua canal will be broader, deeper and will allow larger vessels to pass," Wang said, adding that the canal is designed for 400,000-ton-class vessels, compared with the Panama Canal, which only allows vessels with capacities below 150,000 tons.

More:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-06/26/content_16658635.htm

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. You hav to hope there will be no such need

We don't want more coal and oil burnt, producing more CO2. If Keystone XL doesn't get built, perhaps this won't make economic sense, either.

[ConcernedCanuk]

9. Interesting info on Wiki

.
.
.


1895 cartoon advocating U.S. action to build the Nicaragua Canal


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua_Canal

USA had a chance to get involved in that a few times

more info also at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Nicaragua

CC

[yellowcanine]

11. A canal in Nicaragua could have serious negative environmental impacts

on Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River. Does anyone care about that or is it only the opportunity to sell coal in return for more cheap stuff from China which matters?