The Panama Canal Authority continued informal talks with a Spanish-led consortium on Monday, seeking to resolve a $1.6 billion cost-overrun dispute that has threatened to halt the biggest part of the project to expand the canal.
The consortium, led by Spain’s Sacyr Vallehermoso, had given a Sunday deadline for the authority to come up with funds or face a work stoppage. But the project continued at the same 25 to 30 percent activity level it has seen since the conflict arose in November, said canal Administrator Jorge Quijano.
The canal authority rejected an offer by the European Union to mediate its dispute with the mostly European construction consortium, United for the Canal.