Report Sees Big Challenges for Many U.S. Ports Post-Panamax

August 14, 2012 by Mike Feazel|Ports

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.

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."