Canal De Panamá, Panama

In 2013, Nicaragua has reportedly awarded a Chinese firm a 50-year concession to the Hong Kong-based HKND Group to build a channel through the waters of Lake Nicaragua. The envisioned channel would be 22 metres deep and 286 km (178 miles) long, allowing the passage to ships of up to 250,000 tonnes.
The increasing rate of melting of ice in the Arctic Ocean has led to speculation that the Northwest Passage or Arctic Bridge may become viable for commercial shipping at some point in the future. This route would save 9,300 km (5,800 mi) on the route from Asia to Europe compared with the Panama Canal, possibly leading to a diversion of some traffic to that route. However, such a route is beset by unresolved territorial issues and would still hold significant problems owing to ice.