PANAMA CANAL AND GEORGIA PORTS AUTHORITY RENEW AND STRENGTHEN ALLIANCE

News Release Panama Canal Authority July 29, 2011

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HIGHLIGHTS PORT OF
SAVANNAH’S IMPORTANCE AND REINFORCES MUTUAL GROWTH AND BENEFITS

 
PANAMA CITY, Panama,
July 27, 2011 - The Panama Canal
Authority (ACP) and the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), which owns and operates
the Port of Savannah, renewed their ties today with the signing of a Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU). The MOU, renewable for five years, was first signed in
July 2003 and aims to unify efforts to encourage mutual economic
benefits.
 
“Considering the
importance of the Port of Savannah and its Savannah Harbor Expansion Project in
the logistics chain and in the ‘All-Water Route,’ we are honored and pleased to
renew our alliance with the Georgia Ports Authority and look forward to seeing
their infrastructure project completed and continuing our partnership,” said ACP
Administrator/CEO Alberto Alemán Zubieta.
 
Areas of cooperation
between the ACP and the GPA include, among others, information-sharing, joint
marketing efforts, exchange of data, capital improvement plans, training and
technology. The partnership also supports promotional efforts of the “All-Water
Route,” the route from Asia to the U.S. East Coast via the Panama Canal.

 
Georgia stands to
benefit from the waterway’s expansion, which is slated for completion in 2014.
According to the GPA’s market studies, the Canal’s new locks are expected
to direct ships with three times more capacity to the Port of
Savannah, currently the country’s fourth largest and fastest-growing
port. Serving a large percentage of the population in the United States,
Savannah’s trade is evenly balanced between exports and imports, including 12
percent of all containerized exports in the country.
 
“With the expansion
of the Panama Canal, international trade will increasingly rely on new and
larger ships,” said GPA Executive Director Curtis J. Foltz. “Savannah’s
compounded annual growth rate over the past decade has outpaced all major U.S.
ports. This would not have been possible without our close partnership with
Panama. The Panama Canal leadership has done an extraordinary job bringing one
of the most complex engineering projects in the world on time and on budget.
This project will add to global trade efficiency and flexibility."
 
The GPA is working
toward a large-scale effort to deepen the Savannah River from 42 feet to as much
as 48 feet. The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) will allow deeper draft
ships to call on the port.
 
Previously, the GPA
released an Environmental Impact Study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last
November. Currently, the study is in the public comment stage and scheduled for
final approval next year. Based on existing forecasts, construction on the SHEP
will be undertaken from 2012 to 2016. 
 
The Canal’s expansion
remains on track following the recent pouring of permanent concrete work for the
new locks.
 
The $5.25 billion
expansion project will build a new lane of traffic along the Panama Canal
through the construction of a new set of locks, which will double capacity and
allow more traffic and longer, wider ships.
 
About the Georgia
Ports Authority (GPA) 
Georgia’s deepwater
ports and inland barge terminals support more than 295,000 jobs throughout the
state annually and contribute $15.5 billion in income, $61.7 billion in revenue
and $2.6 billion in state and local taxes to Georgia’s economy. The Port of
Savannah handled 8.6 percent of the U.S. containerized cargo volume and 12.4
percent of all U.S. containerized exports in 2010. For more information, please
visit <A
href="redir.aspx?C=c56358199eec4f82b8ab4074b159ab0b&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.gaports.com"
target=_blank>http://www.gaports.com</A>. For up-to-date information about the
Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, please visit: <A
href="redir.aspx?C=c56358199eec4f82b8ab4074b159ab0b&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.gaports.com%2fdeepening"
target=_blank>http://www.gaports.com/deepening</A>.
 
About
the Panama Canal Authority (ACP)
The ACP
is the autonomous agency of the Government of Panama in charge of managing,
operating and maintaining the Panama Canal. The operation of the ACP is based on
its organic law and the regulations approved by its Board of Directors. For more
information, please visit <A
href="redir.aspx?C=c56358199eec4f82b8ab4074b159ab0b&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.pancanal.com%2f"
target=_blank>http://www.pancanal.com/</A>. You
can also follow us on Twitter: <A
href="redir.aspx?C=c56358199eec4f82b8ab4074b159ab0b&URL=http%3a%2f%2ftwitter.com%2fthepanamacanal"
target=_blank>http://twitter.com/thepanamacanal</A>.
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