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[quote user="Falcon48"]The ship transit time to use the canal rather than just go to a west coast port will be two to three times as much as the transit time required to serve a west coast port.[/quote] Some facts: - Shanghai - West Coast port about 14 days, to New York by train total 22 days - Shanghai - New York via Panama Canal about 26 days - Shanghai - New York via Suez Canal about 28 days Via Suez Canal is less expensive than via Panama Canal as larger ships can be used (economy of scale). [quote user="Falcon48"](the company could try to minimize the inland costs by having its ships call on multiple ports, but that would cause its transit times - and its need for ships - to balloon)[/quote] That is already done. Most of the routes to the West or East Coast are loops calling at different Asian and East Coast ports. And a lot of loops call at two West Coast ports. The share of container landbridge traffic has dropped from about 85% in 1999 to about 55% in 2007. But rising volume might have stabilized or increased the rail traffic. [quote user="Falcon48"]That doesn't leave the steamship company much room for a higher rate to justify the additional ships needed to bypass west coast ports and go through the canal.[/quote] The new Panamax ships (12,000 TEU) might mean less ships to the East Coast with less frequent port calls. And economy of scale (larger ships) might even reduce the rates. This has happened in Europe with the advent of the 20,000+ TEU ships replacing the smaller ships. With all those 20,000+ TEU ships in service or on order a lot of new Panamax ships get bumped from the Asia to Europe route and now available for other routes. So there can be an effect especielly if the the service problems at the West Coast ports are not solved permamently. Regards, Volker
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