Americas News
As Fuel Costs Rise, Deeper Channels Draw More Ships
A U.S. ports chief says rising bunker prices and increased use of larger post-Panamax ships mean shipping lines will gravitate toward ports with deeper channels, the Associated Press reports.
"Quite simply, in an era of bunker fuel at $700 per tonne, lines are not going to face delays to get in and out of harbors to handle cargo and will gravitate to ports that lessen this risk," said Jim Newsome, state ports authority chief for the U.S. state of South Carolina.
Newsome said these factors give his state an advantage as other Southeastern U.S. ports race to deepen their own channels, projects that are unlikely to be completed before 2017.
"Lines cannot wait for this and will have to gravitate to a port like Charleston, which offers a significant draft advantage today," he said.
Charleston's harbor is 45 feet deep, and a $300 million project will deepen it to 50 feet so that it can handle even larger container ships.
Shipping lines are increasing their use of larger vessels as the Panama Canal prepares to expand, making their use more practical.
In September, the MSC Beatrice, the largest cargo ship ever to visit any port in North America called at the Port of Long Beach, demonstrating the ability of that port's 76-foot-deep channel to handle a new generation of large vessels.
