It’s about 5,000 miles away, but that didn’t deter the Suez Canal Authority from entering an agreement with the Port of Baltimore in hopes of sending new business to Maryland's No. 1 seaport.Brooks Royster, executive director of the Maryland Port Administration and El-Sayed Zaadaria El-Saaty, director of the transit department for Suez Canal Authority signed a memorandum of understanding. The agreement is aimed at information sharing and “utilizing the Suez Canal to generate new business for the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore.”Port officials bet that the city’s port can capture business as the world’s premier canals become busier.“With the Panama Canal near capacity, the Suez Canal Authority will play a much larger role for U.S. East Coast-bound goods coming from Asia and the Far East,” said Richard Bowers, director of marketing for the Maryland Port Administration.The data sharing will include the flow of current and projected trade through the canal as well as exchanging information about training programs.
To deal with increasingly larger cargo ships — some as long as five football fields — the Panama Canal Authority announced an expansion of the Canal.Shipping analysts predict that if the canal's traditional 6 to 7 percent annual growth continues, the Panama canal will reach capacity in two to three year.If that happens, ships would more likely use the Suez Canal to transport goods between Asian and Western markets such as the United States.Bowers said the Suez Canal Authority sought out the Baltimore Port.According to Bowers, the port will soon begin removing empty containers and placing at yards off site to help increase traffic.