US seaports have been busy making preparations to handle larger vessels once the Panama Canal Extension project is completed in 2014.

    With three years to go to complete the canal's widening and deepening constructions, US ports, particularly those located on the east coast, have been undertaking dredging works to make way for the mega ships of the future.

    A report by Digital Supply Chain from San Diego said: "The Panama Canal extension is going to more than double the size of vessels that can transit the canal," said Kurt Nagle, president of the American Association of Port Authorities.

    "I don't think it's over-hyped to say it' a game Panamax where the maximum size of a ship that can pass is 1,200 feet long by 160 feet wide, opposed to the current standard of 956 feet long by 106 feet wide," Mr Nagle said.

    "The container capacity of ships will swell to 12,000 TEU from 5,000," he said. "The maximum draft of vessels travelling to and from the US east coast will increase to as much as 50 feet from 39.5 feet."

    This comes as US President Barack Obama is urging the United States to double exports by 2025 in a bid to create many more jobs. So far his administration has pledged US$50 billion to infrastructure projects.

    The report noted that the port of New York/New Jersey has a $2.3 billion project under way to deepen its harbour to 50 feet. The Bayonne Bridge spanning the shipping channel will also need to be raised for an estimated $1.3 billion to allow ships passage.

    The port of Baltimore is said to be nearly two years ahead of its 2014 deadline to complete a $105 million project by July 2012 to accommodate mega ships within a new 200-acre terminal. It is part of a greater infrastructure project totalling $1.3 billion in the Baltimore area.

    The port of Savannah is seeking $105 million from the federal administration's infrastructure budget to begin dredging a deeper shipping terminal, but was rewarded with only $600,000. The port of Miami has received permission to dredge and is requesting $75 million to commence the first phase. Studies are also under way of deepening two other Florida ports in Ft. Lauderdale and Jacksonville, it added.

(source:http://www.schednet.com/home/index.asp?area=news)