(The following appeared on the CNBC website on February 25, 2011.)
Nearly 100 years ago, the Panama Canal hosted its first passage, a watershed event that has influenced the landscape of shipping and transportation ever since. Now, the canal is due to rattle international trade once more, potentially reshaping the way sea-borne shipping and rail lines tackle business in the world’s largest consumer nation.
A massive, $5 billion-plus expansion of the canal looks on track to wrap in 2014, just in time for the waterway’s centennial. The expansion will allow the passage of larger, so-called “Post-Panamax” vessels that can haul roughly double the cargo of ships that currently fit the canal.
Importantly, the expansion will also give ship lines around the world, particularly those with massive container ships, yet another route for moving goods to the United States.
This means the expansion project is high on the radar of a wide range of players in U.S. shipping and transportation, from the country’s busiest port — the Port of Los Angeles — to the rail companies and intermodal players that support the ports and the constant flow in and out of them.
The full story appears at www.cnbc.com.