Port officials discuss changes from expanded Panama Canal

Port officials discuss changes from expanded Panama Canal Ports and transportation industry executives are in Tampa, Fla., this week to discuss the implications of the Panama Canal's expansion.
   The expansion, scheduled to be completed by 2015, will increase capacity and allow ships nearly two-and-a-half to three times as large as today’s Panamax ships to transit the canal.
   It is the most ambitious project in Panama’s history, noted Federico A. Humbert, Panama's ambassador to the U.S., in opening remarks to the group of nearly 200 attendees at a conference organized by the American Association of Port Authorities and the U.S. Maritime Administration.
   “We are but one part of this equation. The other part is played by the ports, terminals, distribution centers and shipping lines that you represent,” Humbert said. “We share a relation of mutual dependence, because of the industry that we are all in.
   “The expansion of the Panama Canal will do a little to benefit global commerce unless considerable investment in transportation infrastructure is taken in the ports of the Western Hemisphere,” he added.
   The new canal, he said, could be a “threat or an opportunity” to ports depending on the reaction of ports.
   “It is going to get completed, most likely on time, and we better get ready,” said Richard Wainio, port director and chief executive officer of the Port of Tampa.
   Wainio said he and other port executive believe there is a need for ports to dredge and expand terminals so they can receive the bigger ships and larger volumes of cargo that are likely to flow to U.S. East and Gulf coasts ports as a result of the expanded canal.
   Wainio said there needs to be a way for ports to “fast track” dredging and other improvement projects.
   Port officials said they believe only a small number of U.S. ports will likely be able to handle the largest 12,000-plus TEU ships that will be able to transit the canal.
   But Wainio said smaller ports will need to expand to handle much larger ships that are likely to act as feeder ships bringing cargo to and from those large ships from feeder ports.
   If U.S. ports are not ready to handle the biggest ships that will be able to transit the canal — ships in the 8,000 to 12,000-TEU range –then the action will be in the Caribbean where the big ships after transiting the canal will be able to make a single stop to transfer cargo to feeder vessels and ships will take that cargo to ports in the Gulf, South Atlantic, North Atlantic, Europe and South America, said    Robert West, managing director or maritime services for the consulting firm Global Insight. “We think there will be a tremendous increase in transshipment in the Caribbean. ' Chris Dupin