Originally Posted by
Paul D
... Permission was granted for the development in March 2007. The first berth could be ready in 2011.
I read in todays news that the NorthWest passage is presently has an ice-free path complete from end to end for the first time in recorded history.
Full article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6995999.stm
So can we expect to see post-Panamax container ships from the Pacific transiting the NorthWest Passage and coming to Europe from the North by 2008 or 2009? If so it makes Liverpool the post-Panamax port of choice for West-coast America as well as the traditional North Atlantic run.
Quick approximate measurements using GoogleEarth:
Liverpool - San Francisco via NorthWest passage 6,950 nautical miles
Liverpool - San Francisco using Panama Canal 7,120 nm.
Liverpool - San Francisco via Cape Horn 13,800 nm.
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They had better get serious about upgrading rail access to the Port of Liverpool, reinstating Olive Mount is not going to be enough, not by a long chalk. Try 25kv electrification too and European loading gauge clearance.
Can the terminal plans accommodate still more expansion beyond two post-Panamax vessels when the demand presses? Plans for two rail routes (diversionary) into the Northern docks?
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