Ports are expanding worldwide in anticipation of the Panama
Canal's new locks, expected to open in 2014. Presently, ships
and ports sizes are limited to the maximum dimensions that the
Panama Canal allows. So called Panamax vessels can have a maximum
length of only 294 meters, making larger post-panamax vessels less
economic to run on shipping routes between the Atlantic and the
Pacific. The new locks allow for much larger ships of over 400
meters, which increases the capacity of a typical container ship
from 5000 to 13000 units. This has prompted the ports of Miami, New
York, Baltimore and many others to increase depth and port
facilities.
But those are only immediate effects. Panamax ships have a
relatively small beam in comparison to their length and therefore
run less efficient than what is hydro-dynamically possible.
Shipbuilders around the world are well aware of these new
possibilities of the canal's expansion.
