First Nicaragua (shown above), now Guatemala have proposed Dry Canals across their countries. The government of Guatemala disavows any relationship to the project and are smart to do that as these projects will never get off the ground. The Panama Canal can deliver a transit at a lower cost than over land transport, especially when the super ships can access the new waterway in 2015.
It has been pointed out that neither the government nor the National Alliance for the Development of Economic Infrastructure have ties to the Inter-Oceanic Corridor mega project.
While spokesmen for the companies behind the project announced the start of construction of the first phase in July 2013, it has still not been explained how the initial cost, estimated at $7.5 billion, will be financed.
Elperiodico.com.gt reports that “Julio Héctor Estrada, director of the National Alliance for the Development of Economic Infrastructure (Conadie), explains that the cost of moving goods through the Panama Canal is 5 times cheaper than going over land”.
The government official said: “This project has nothing to do with the Council or the Government … there is a difficult gap because it can not compete with the Panama Canal, … when its expansion was announced in 2005 all the dry corridor projects were abandoned. ”
Source: elperiodico.com.gt
Recently an LGN tanker made a trip from Norway to Japan via the Artic. It saved them 3 weeks transit time.