Expanded Panama Canal Challenges Washington Ports

The $5.4 billion expansion of the Panama Canal is paying off for East Coast and Gulf of Mexico seaports. It is putting pressure on the Pacific Ocean-based terminals to be more competitive.

The enlarged waterway opened in June 2016 allowing much larger container ships to transit between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Ships carrying up to 14,800 containers can now bypass Washington and other West Coast docks and deliver containers directly to cities from Houston to New York.

The older canal accommodates ships with 5,000 containers. It was a bottleneck causing up to 30-hour delays. On any given...