Tribunal orders Panama canal construction group to pay back $848 million

FILE PHOTO: An employee works on the new set of locks at the expansion project of the Panama Canal on the pacific side in Panama City November 17, 2015. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso/File Photo

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - The Panama Canal Authority said on Wednesday that an arbitration tribunal has ordered the construction consortium behind the waterway's expansion to pay back nearly $848 million (672.43 million pounds) to the canal authority.

The ruling from the Miami-based tribunal, part of the International Chamber of Commerce, stems from a protracted dispute between the authority and a group of builders led by Spain's Sacyr and Italy's Salini Impregilo.