PORT MANATEE EXPANSION Gearing up for traffic from Panama Canal; Port Manatee to benefit from widening project in Central American nation.

Byline: MICHAEL POLLICK michael.pollick@heraldtribune.com

Meanwhile, the monumental expansion taking place at the canal should be done by 2014 and is expected to prompt global shifts in shipping patterns.

The largest container ships afloat, when headed for the United States from Asia, now unload their goods on the West Coast. Goods that are headed for East Coast markets must then travel by rail across the United States.

Because the Panama Canal will be able to handle these ships starting a few years from now, it will mean that eastern U.S. ports, and those on the Gulf of Mexico, will be able to host direct shipments to and from Asia much more …