THE Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has announced the awarding of the third of four dry excavation contracts to Constructora MECO, SA. The project is designed to create an access channel linking the new Pacific locks with the Canal's existing Gaillard Cut, which is the narrowest stretch of the canal.
The ACP received a total of six bids for the contract. Following a thorough review, the ACP determined that the lowest bidder at US$36.7 million compared to the highest bidder of Cilsa Minera Maria at US$74.6 million met "all the requirements in the request for proposals (RFP) released at the end of September and awarded the company the contract," a statement from the ACP said.
Constructora MECO is a Costa Rican firm established in Panama in 1995.
"Constructora MECO is a leading construction company in Latin America with expertise in the execution of the same type of work that they will undertake here," said executive vice president of engineering and programme management Jorge Quijano.
The scope of the third dry excavation project will involve the excavation, removal and disposal of eight million cubic metres of material, which will further reduce Paraiso (Paradise) Hill from 46 metres to 27.5 metres above sea level. It also calls for the construction of approximately 2.5 kilometres of access roads and the clearing of 190 hectares of land bearing munitions and explosives of consideration (MEC), which are remnants from former US military training in Panama.
Sound gun maker defends non-lethal anti-pirate weapons despite fiasco
THE use of non-lethal weapons to fend off Somali pirates ended in a fiasco as security contractors jumped overboard to escape a hail of bullets, but the manufacturer of the high-decibel "gun" says his product was not applied to its proper and fullest extend.
The "weapon" deployed aboard the tanker Biscaglia more than a month ago was a long-range acoustical device (LRAD) that its manufacturer claims fires an ear-piercing beam of sound towards an attacker and will keep him at bay.
Looking back on the fiasco, the security team is blamed for having only one LRAD 500x mounted on the stern, where it would be least effective because water turbulence at the stern makes a pirate attack on that quarter unlikely.
Scott Stuckey, vice president of San Diego-based American Technology Corp, which makes the device, told American Shipper that the LRAD is effective against attackers coming from one direction, but the Somali pirates tend to swarm in several boats.
The security agents should have placed two LRAD 1000x units - which are almost twice as loud as the 500x model - on the port and starboard sides or used a portable version on a "scram cart" that can be moved about the ship, said Mr Stuckey.
The gunwales are the most likely boarding points because they are lower than the stern or the bow. The LRAD 1000x puts out 152 decibels, enough to overcome the noise of twin outboard motors at 500 yards or more and ensure that one's message is heard.
The device, coupled to an MP3 player as its sound source, can be used to transmit deafening music or tones at close distances, but Mr Stuckey said its real value is as a communication tool to transmit messages in the language of the target audience.
The security agents held off pirates for 45 minutes before succumbing. To Mr Stuckey, that is an endorsement for non-lethal methods because it shows they can buy time to outmanoeuvre, get in a safe room, receive aid from nearby warships, or for the pirate to run out of gas, crash into the vessel or otherwise give up the chase.
"In my experience it rarely gets to that point where you need to chase people away," Mr Stuckey said. "We've discovered that the use of LRAD tells a potential attacker that you've identified him, he's lost the element of surprise and you're prepared."
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