 |
| Miraflores Locks |
The Panama Canal is due for an update to accommodate the larger vessels being built today. A lot of action has been taking place to prepare harbor dredging along the East Coast in preparations to transport more ships and goods to the West Coast. Not only will the needed updates be costly, it will also effect cargo, freighter, merchant and cruise ships' pricing. These changes will be costly.
Read:
The game of high stakes and bluff continues over the Canal
May 29, 2012, 11:42PM EST
Panama is testing the market reaction in the run up to 2014.
The latest toll increase proposals through the Panama Canal are causing worried frowns on the US East Coast, while the West Coast is more complacent than ever over its importance after 2014.
The International chamber of shipping calls the proposals for a 15 percent hike, which could come in from July 1, “rushed, excessive and likely to cause further problems.” Shippers are starting to say that they will take a fresh look at all-water routes, which is making the railroads feel happier (because the more traffic that goes through the west Coast, the more that will go by rail).
Huge bets are being placed on the post-2014 effect, with the East Coast shoveling in about $5 billion in harbor dredging and new terminals (quite apart from the joint Georgia-South Carolina project at Craney Island.) Charleston, for example, says its whole future hinges on the canal, while Florida is trying to get a greater share of regional cargo that at the moment goes through the west coast.
To read the rest of the article, go to: maritimeprofessional.com
Another good article written in Maritime Professionals concerning the Panama Canal is:
South America needs to be taken into account in the Panama Canal stakes
May 30, 2012, 11:51PM EST
The sub-continent continues to post impressive shipping gains that add a new factor to the equation
Extra spice is being added to the Panama Canal debate, with belated awareness from the shipping community that South America itself is actually a market and destination to reckon with.
Research statistics from Transport Intelligence (via Agility Logistics) throw up the findings that Brazil and Argentina occupy third and fourth place in the list of the biggest emerging market sea trade exporters to the US/EU, while Brazil is the seventh biggest importer from these regions.
In terms of percentage growth, Peru is the best performer among South American exporters at a compound annual growth rate of 11 percent since 2005 for both the EU and US, and the 11th best in the world. (Oman is the overall winner at 43 percent, but when oil is taken out of the equation Peru jumps up to fifth place.) Chile is 21st – but of course it has a much bigger base to work from.
To read the rest of this article, go to: maritimeprofessional.com
Those of you interested in the happenings of the Panama Canal, I think you will be really interested in the knowledge of everything the Canal affects in our lives. More than most people know. Enjoy the reads.
