b'26American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comAll eyes on the Panama Canal By George Lauriat, AJOTThere is an adage noth- The canal also has been inghappensinavacuumplaguedbyongoingperiods and that is particularly true ofoflowwater,theresultof strategicwaterwayslikethedroughts,whichstrangles Panama Canal.capacity. The Gatun and Ala-TheTrumpAdministra- juelaLakesneedtoprovide tionspressuringofPanama52,000,000gallonsoffresh to sell the two container ter- water for a single ships tran-minalsateachendofthesitandthePanamaCanal PanamaCanalownedbyAuthoritys target is 36 tran-PanamaPortsCompany,asiting ships per day. There are subsidiary of the Hong Kongplans for a new reservoir to owned CK Hutchinson Hold- helprelievetheseproblems. ings,toU.S.interests,hasThe proposed Rio Indio res-sent ripples around the world.ervoirprojectisforecastto In one sense it is simplysecure the Canals freshwater another facet of the ongoingneeds for the next half cen-globalcompetitionbetweentury at a cost of around $1.2LATIN AMERICA TRADE the U.S. and China. However,billionplusanadditional Panama,withitsoutsized$400millionininvestmentsBI-ANNUAL 2025influenceonglobalaffairsin neighboring communities. due to the strategic role of theThese are big investments for Panama Canal, is now caught(EYEScontinued on inthemiddleoftheChina- page 28) The entrance of CK Hutchison Holdingss Balboa PortU.S. rivalry. But beyond the obvious struggle between the two powers for influence overEXPERT LOGISTICS the Panama Canal, how will this competition impact other Latin American nationsisON DEMANDthis a Latin American policy dry run for the Trump Admin-istrationsAmericaFirst foreignpolicyorsomethingANYWHERE. ANYTIME. ON TIME. else altogether?p AnAMA And theC AnALItishardtothinkof Panamawithoutthinking ofthePanamaCanal.The country has an $87.3 billion economy which makes it the 12th largest economy in Latin AmericaandtheCaribbean. Evenmoreimpressively Panama has a 2025 projected percapitaGDPof$20,092 which ranks around third for the region. Much of this eco-nomicsuccessisduetothe Panama Canal. It is estimated that the canal accounts for an estimated10%-12%ofthe countrysoverallGDP.And therevenuehasbeenindis-pensabletothecountry.For example,eveninFY2023 during the drought period, the revenuewas$4.968billion andcontributedawhopping $2.545 billion directly to the Panama treasury. But the Panama Canal has had its share of challenges. On one hand the canal has had to expandtokeepupwiththe increasing size of vessels. This isparticularlytrueforcon-tainerships.Adecadeago,a 10,000 TEU containership was considered large and today the averagelinehaulcontainer-shipcallingontheUSEast Coast is around 16,200 TEUs. This size ship needs to use the Panama Canal to reach Asia. A neopanamax containership, the largest size that can pass throughthecanal,isaround 1,200 feet long and 167 feetCONTACT USwide with a capacity of about 17,000 TEUs. And while the1000 Foust Road Brownsville, TX 78521expansionofthecanalhas+1 (956) 831-4592enabledlargercontainershipswww.portofbrownsville.comto transit, many containerships are now over 20,000 TEUs.'