Work to resume on Panama Canal expansion

PANAMA CITY (AP) — The administrator of the Panama Canal says work will resume Thursday on a major expansion of the canal two weeks after it was halted over a disagreement with a contractor on $1.6 billion in cost overruns.

It says the European-led construction consortium will go back to work even though they haven't reached a final agreement on how to finance the remaining work on a set of new locks

The dispute that began in January threatens to further delay completion of the $5.25 billion expansion project that will allow extra-large tankers and container ships to use the canal and cut travel time between Asia and the eastern U.S.

The consortium led by Spain's Sacyr blames poor planning for the cost overruns. Panama says the company is responsible for any unforeseen costs.