Panama Canal Awards Contract for Fourteen New Tugs
News Release
Panama Canal Authority
October 7, 2011
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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Panama City, Panama,
October 6, 2011- </SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The Panama Canal
Authority awarded Astilleros Armon S.A., a ship building and repairing company
based in Spain, a $158.3 million contract to acquire 14 new tugs to increase the
current fleet to meet the projected growth of transits on the
waterway.</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The contract was
awarded to the company offering the best value proposal. The tender was opened
to wider competition with the participation of 20 companies from countries in
South America, Europe and Asia.</SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The contract involves
the construction, testing and staggered delivery of 14 tractor-type tugs of 70
tons, the first of which will be received within 600 days of being
awarded.</SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The tugs will assist
larger vessels transiting the Canal current and expand transit operations,
anchoring and other maneuvers in the waterway.</SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The Panama Canal
currently has a fleet of 36 tugs to assist more than 14,000 transits every
year.</SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The new Canal will
operate with tugboats to assist the transit of ships, unlike the exiting canal
which uses locomotives.</SPAN></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE></TITLE>
<META content="text/html; charset=unicode" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18904"></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Panama City, Panama,
October 6, 2011- </SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The Panama Canal
Authority awarded Astilleros Armon S.A., a ship building and repairing company
based in Spain, a $158.3 million contract to acquire 14 new tugs to increase the
current fleet to meet the projected growth of transits on the
waterway.</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The contract was
awarded to the company offering the best value proposal. The tender was opened
to wider competition with the participation of 20 companies from countries in
South America, Europe and Asia.</SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The contract involves
the construction, testing and staggered delivery of 14 tractor-type tugs of 70
tons, the first of which will be received within 600 days of being
awarded.</SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The tugs will assist
larger vessels transiting the Canal current and expand transit operations,
anchoring and other maneuvers in the waterway.</SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The Panama Canal
currently has a fleet of 36 tugs to assist more than 14,000 transits every
year.</SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The new Canal will
operate with tugboats to assist the transit of ships, unlike the exiting canal
which uses locomotives.</SPAN></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>