A Wider, Deeper Panama Canal Prepares to Open Its Locks
Panamax is here, and as mentioned in my previous post it will create a cascading ripple of changes. We’ve already seen ~10 years worth of changes to ports, but beyond the ports further ripples will happen over the next few years. Just like the arrival of large body jets in the 70’s, the Panamax changes will create waves of change over the next few decades.
Transport to and from ports will need to accommodate more traffic at one time, the equipment used to offload freight might need to improve, and you have to also consider how larger but less frequent shipments might affect some of today’s “just in time” logistics chains. Those are some of the more obvious affects, but there are probably others that none have yet projected or thought about.
Dozens of people crowded into the main hall of the Panama Canal Authority’s headquarters last month to see which ship would win the coveted maiden voyage through the expanded canal slated for June 26.
All eyes were on 9-year old Margarita Rivas Silvera as she stuck her hand in a metal cage and pulled out the winning name.
Cosco, a Chinese shipping company, won the chance to send one of its ultra-large vessels through the new expanded locks, which are longer, wider and deeper than the original ones completed in 1914. It took nearly a decade to expand the canal, at a cost of more than $5 billion, but the project is the pride, and the lifeblood, of Panama.
More: A Wider, Deeper Panama Canal Prepares To Open Its Locks : Parallels : NPR