New PC may bode well for GC ports

LONDON - The Panama Canal has overtaken the Suez Canal as the favored transit route for carriers operating services between Asia and the US East/Gulf coasts following the widening of the Central America waterway. A recently published network of the Ocean Alliance and The Alliance, which will launch April 2017, indicates more carriers are pledging support to the Panama Canal, according to Drewry Shipping Consultants. The average size of ships transiting the Panama Canal will likely surpass the 8,000-TEU Suez average by April 2017, according to Drewry. Traffic on the Asia-US West Coast route has risen by 1.4 percent over the first 10 months of 2016 compared to 1.1 percent for the East Coast. Volumes to the US Gulf Coast have surged 20 percent, but remain a small fraction of the total Asia-US trade. (Source: JOC 11/22/16)