The inter-oceanic canal that Nicaragua plans to build will not compete with Panama’s because it does not target the same market segment, a senior Nicaraguan ruling party lawmaker said.

The statement by Edwin Castro, head of the Sandinista bloc in the National Assembly, comes in the same week that the government is expected to unveil the route of the canal.

The concessionaire, China’s HKND Group, says the Nicaraguan facility will be able to accomodate ships of double the cargo capacity that the Panama Canal can allow.

“We’re not entering into any market competition with Panama,” Castro said in an exposition of the project to university students at the National Assembly.

Even once it is expanded, the Panama Canal will only be able to accept ships of up to 12,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units), a market not sought by the Nicaragua project, Castro said.

“Nicaragua’s canal will have a much wider strip across the country, in other words, it will be able to admit much bigger ships than would fit in the Panama Canal, even when it’s enlarged,” the politician said.

HKND Group has said that its infrastructure could admit Super-Post-Panamax ships of up to 23,000 TEUs.

The company recently announced that it will also construct two ports, a free-trade zone, resorts, an international airport and several highways.

Nicaragua estimates an investment of around $40 billion, but HKND Group has not confirmed that figure. EFE