Report Sees Big Challenges for Many U.S. Ports Post-Panamax
A multi-billion dollar investment is required for North American ports to meet the demands of the post-Panama Canal expansion environment, according to Colliers International's North American Port Analysis Report. It said only eight U.S. ports are on track to be Post-Panamax ready by 2015. By 2030, 60 to 70 percent of the world's container fleet will be 18-22 containers wide, the report said, too large for many U.S. ports to accommodate.
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Some findings of the report:
- In the past 55 years, intermodalism has advanced "from the equivalent of the ice age to the space age."
- Four East Coast ports will be ready to handle post-Panamax ships by 2015, including Baltimore (2013), Miami (2014), New York (2015) and Norfolk (ready).
- Four West Coast ports are already post-Panamax ready, including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland and Seattle.
- The U.S. ranks only 23rd globally in funding port infrastructure.
- The U.S. is far behind other countries in port activity, and globally does not rank among the top 10 busiest ports.
- U.S. ports also face risks of overheated port competition, environmental inaction, labor strikes, slowing global GDP, and state budget crises.
- For the first time since World War II, container traffic growth on the East coast has surpassed that of the West coast.
Despite the concerns, K.C. Conway, executive managing director-market analytics at Colliers and author of the report, said: "With a number of investment and engineering feats ahead, the U.S. remains well-positioned to positively impact global trade and the overall supply chain."