Suez Canal official Abdel Tawab Haggag told a Sydney, Nova Scotia, harbour development conference that eastern Canadian gateway could well become a relief port to ease container congestion for the east coast US trade.
Mr Haggag, of the Suez Canal Authority, described the potential economic spin-off for Atlantic province of Nova Scotia if it unloaded just one of the 41,000-ton containerships that pass through the 190-kilometre Suez Canal.
"We believe the Sydney port is nearest to Europe and the Suez Canal so it can attract traffic to the east North America coast and has a real opportunity," said Mr. Haggag.
He told delegates that a 15,000-TEU ship, now on the drawing boards, is so big that it would take miles of trucks to unload it.
"It could have good success here," Mr. Haggag told The Halifax Chronicle Herald. "The west coast is congested and so many spend time waiting even for intermodal facilities," he said.
There's no time to waste, he said, given the Suez Canal Authority is projecting a heavy increase in container traffic by 2010 from Asian to North American markets.
Halifax is operating at 55 per cent capacity, handling about 550,000 containers and has a potential to handle two million. But already there's heavy truck congestion moving goods off the Halifax peninsula. About 70 per cent of the cargo is moved by train.
Mr Haggag, of the Suez Canal Authority, described the potential economic spin-off for Atlantic province of Nova Scotia if it unloaded just one of the 41,000-ton containerships that pass through the 190-kilometre Suez Canal.
"We believe the Sydney port is nearest to Europe and the Suez Canal so it can attract traffic to the east North America coast and has a real opportunity," said Mr. Haggag.
He told delegates that a 15,000-TEU ship, now on the drawing boards, is so big that it would take miles of trucks to unload it.
"It could have good success here," Mr. Haggag told The Halifax Chronicle Herald. "The west coast is congested and so many spend time waiting even for intermodal facilities," he said.
There's no time to waste, he said, given the Suez Canal Authority is projecting a heavy increase in container traffic by 2010 from Asian to North American markets.
Halifax is operating at 55 per cent capacity, handling about 550,000 containers and has a potential to handle two million. But already there's heavy truck congestion moving goods off the Halifax peninsula. About 70 per cent of the cargo is moved by train.