Wider canal will widen U.S. trade

The people who run shipping lines and ports in the American hemisphere are meeting in Tampa this week to explore the enormous business opportunities from the ongoing expansion of the Panama Canal. When completed in 2014, the project will enable more and larger ships to pass through this transocean shipping lane. The work promises to remake the face of shipping, scrambling everything from sea and trade routes to inland transportation as communities serve their growing ports.

The two-day workshop ends today. U.S. and Panamanian government officials, port directors and the maritime industry hope to achieve two goals: to grasp the scope of the coming changes to shipping, trade routes and new business opportunities to ports throughout the Americas; and to plan the financing of dredging, other maintenance and capital projects so that U.S. ports can absorb the business.

The new locks will open another lane of traffic, double capacity and allow wider, longer ships through the canal. Directors of U.S. ports say it will bring new business and demands alike throughout the nation's seaport system. The ports will need to divvy up federal dredging dollars and consider how communities can make most efficient use of capital improvements. Ports will need to balance competing with each other against the practical need to make the best use of taxpayer-financed improvements.

This meeting is a good chance for the industry and government to settle on a strategy that must involve cooperation. It also serves to remind how vital the ports are to local economies and U.S. trade. With the volume of international traffic expected to double by 2020, the nation cannot take this trade route for granted. It must invest in terminals and transport facilities, spend more to maintain the shipping lanes and look for new ways to market the ports as places for moving goods and people. The canal's expansion is an opportunity and a lesson in what America needs to remain competitive in an increasingly global marketplace.

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The Times' recommendations for Tuesday's election:

Florida Constitution Amendment 1: No

Continuation of Pinellas School District property tax: Yes

Democratic presidential primary: Barack Obama

Republican presidential primary: Coming Sunday

[Last modified January 24, 2008, 01:34:09]