The new Panama Canal expansion is putting even more pressure on Commissioners now. “We look forward to a continued strong rapport with the Port of Savannah and the state of Georgia”. Another attractive draw for shippers servicing East Coast ports through the Panama Canal rather than Transpacific routes between Asia and West Coast ports is backhaul.
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The $5.3 billion expansion will allow the waterway to handle the kind of massive tankers that transport LNG for the first time. “Since 60 percent of the Panama Canal traffic either begins or ends in USA ports it will have a direct, notable impact on the trade between Asia and the U.S. East Coast”, the line said.
“These senior officials shared in enthusiasm for tremendous positive impacts this momentous expansion will have, including for significantly increased trans-shipped container volumes through ports such as Port Manatee”, said Appice.
Bigger ships on the canal could mean bigger paydays for commodity producers as they can utilise larger vessels more frequently to tap into fast growing Asia-Pacific consumer markets.
The only other East Coast ports with that capacity are Norfolk, Virginia, and Miami, Florida, but Scher says other ports on the East Coast, from NY down to Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia, all have hurdles to jump to reach that capacity milestone.
Already the 102-year-old canal carries five percent of the world’s maritime trade, especially between the U.S. and China, Japan and South Korea.
Grupo Unidos por el Canal, the Italian- and Spanish-led consortium that spearheaded construction, handed the project over Friday, although a series of claims are still pending for presumed cost overruns of more than $3 billion. “The traffic is not likely to rise, but volumes in transit will probably increase”.
“There is evidence that the Panama Canal, with this expansion, is an important player not only for regional maritime commerce but worldwide”, said Oscar Bazan, the Panama Canal Authority’s executive vice president for planning and commercial development.
The revitalised canal has also spurred vast construction projects at ports on the US East Coast and Gulf of Mexico.
The COSCO SHIPPING PANAMA is a new “Neopanamax” boxship, built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co, Ltd and delivered earlier this year.
However, longer-term factors could make the East Coast more compelling with or without the larger canal. 10 percent of the container traffic will have changed from U.S. west coast to USA east coast.
They represent a lucrative segment of the shipping market whose importance has grown with the development of USA exports of natural gas from shale, mostof which head to Japan and South Korea.
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Anders Boenaes, head of network at Maersk, said: “The expansion provides us with more options, most notably to our Asia to South America and Asia to USEC routes”. Last December, the CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, the largest container ship ever to call at a North American port with a capacity of 18,000 TEUs, docked at the Port of Los Angeles.
