• Panama Canal expansion. Another relatively significant unknown remains the
impact of the expansion of the Panama Canal, expected to be completed in 2014.
For North America, it may favor an enhanced share of the all-water route from
Asia, although this share has significantly grown in recent years. There may also
be an increase in transshipment of the Caribbean. Freight, and regionalism along
the American West Coast is expected to change. For Europe, the impacts of the
Panama Canal are likely to be more marginal. However, it must be considered
that with a parity in capacity between the Suez and the Panama canals, a greater
reliance on circum-equatorial routes can be expected. Transshipment activities
in the Mediterranean will thus be expanded.