HOUSTON, April 28, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Port of Houston Authority (PHA) officials are lauding the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) for its proposed plan to expand the canal and say that, with the completion of the new Bayport terminal, the Port stands ready to receive additional vessels that will pass through the critical waterway, adding jobs and stimulus to the Houston economy.
The ACP has said the project, which includes the construction of new locks as well as the widening and deepening of existing waterways, will be the largest construction project since the waterway opened 92 years ago.
If approved in its current form, the ACP plan would double the canal's capacity for Panamax-sized vessels. The new set of locks, which would be east of the existing Gatun Locks, would be done by 2014. The construction project, which is subject to a referendum by Panamanian voters, will cost an estimated $5.25 billion.
Currently, post-Panamax and Super post-Panamax sized vessels are unable to pass through the Panama Canal. According to the ACP, the canal's expansion would also accommodate post-Panamax and Super post-Panamax sized vessels, meaning more of those ships could be routed to Houston as a port of call.
"The Port of Houston currently handles very few post-Panamax ships because most such vessels from Asia are going West through the Suez Canal to get to the East Coast of the United States as a matter of simple geography," PHA Executive Director Tom Kornegay said. "This expansion will put Houston in a position to compete with East Coast ports when it comes to handling vessels of this size. With all that the Port of Houston has to offer, we believe that competition could be very keen indeed."
According to Kornegay, the PHA's container freight is expected to grow by 16 to 23 percent annually over the next few years. If approved, the Panama Canal expansion plan could potentially accelerate this growth. In order to accommodate increased maritime traffic - and to prepare for possibilities like the expansion of the Panama Canal - the PHA is preparing to open its new Bayport terminal. Phase I of the state of the art facility will open in late August, with additional phases to be built to market demand. The first phase of Bayport's cruise terminal is targeted to open in 2007.
Kornegay added words of praise for ACP Administrator/CEO Alberto Aleman Zubieta, who is spearheading the canal expansion project. "Alberto is a first-rate operator," he said. "Panama has done an excellent job of administering the Canal since taking it over from the United States (in 1999), and that is to his credit."
The Port of Houston Authority
The Port of Houston Authority owns and operates the public facilities located along the Port of Houston, the 25-mile long complex of diversified public and private facilities designed for handling general cargo, containers, grain and other dry bulk materials, project and heavy lift cargo, and other types of cargo. Each year, more than 6,600 vessels call at the port, which ranks first in the U.S. in foreign waterborne tonnage, second in overall total tonnage, and sixth largest in the world. The Port Authority plays a vital role in ensuring navigational safety along the Houston Ship Channel, which has been instrumental in Houston's development as a center of international trade. The Barbours Cut Container Terminal and Central Maintenance Facility are the first of any U.S. port facilities to develop and implement an innovative Environmental Management System that meets the rigorous standards of ISO 14001. Additionally, the port is an approved delivery point for Coffee "C" futures contracts traded on the New York Board of Trade's Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange. For more information, please visit www.portofhouston.com
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