Maryland Port Administration
Signs Deal
With Panama Canal Authority
The Panama Canal Authority has signed an
agreement with the Maryland Port
Administration to encourage shippers to
visit Baltimore and other East Coast ports
via the canal.
The deal could bring more business from Asia
to Maryland ports. Meanwhile, Port of
Baltimore officials are working to prepare
the region’s terminals for an uptick in
business that could come when the canal is
widened in 2014.
“With the current economic climate, it has
never been more important to provide optimal
customer service, and this agreement will
enable us to fully cooperate and work
together for continued trade between Latin
America, Asia and United States,” canal
authority CEO Alberto Alemán Zubieta said in
a statement.
The MPA is currently shopping for a
private-sector partner to enter a long-term
lease at Seagirt Marine Terminal, the
state’s main container cargo terminal
handler. MPA leaders say a public-private
partnership would help boost business at the
port. It’s the fastest way to pay for a
50-foot berth needed to accommodate larger
ships that will come through the widened
canal, MPA Executive Director James J. White
has said.
The Port of Baltimore is one of two East
Coast ports with a 50-foot channel,
according to the MPA.
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Alejandro
Bolivar / European Pressphoto Agency
A dredger works
on the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal,
under construction to accommodate
super-sized cargo ships. |
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