[fenwick16]

I just want to post this story from the CBC. The part about these ships being too large to so down the St. Lawrence seaway is what caught my attention.

(source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-s...ness-1.3178929 )

Port of Halifax hopes post-Panamax ships bring big business
Port of Halifax has seen its volume of containerized cargo drop by about 10 per cent last year
By Jennifer Henderson, CBC News Posted: Aug 04, 2015 4:35 PM AT Last Updated: Aug 04, 2015 5:16 PM AT


The CMA-CGM Vivaldi stopped at the Halterm terminal carrying 8478 TEUs (total equivalent units) the largest container ship to call on the port. (CBC)

The arrival of bigger, post-Panamax container ships which started Monday is good news for the struggling port of Halifax.

The CMA-CGM Vivaldi stopped at the Halterm terminal carrying 8478 TEUs (total equivalent units) the largest container ship to call on the port.

An even bigger ship, known as a super post-Panamax ship built for 9200 TEU is scheduled to arrive in Halifax next month.

Both of these larger vessels are owned by CMA-CGM of France, the third largest container shipping company in the world with 445 ships.

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On Friday, an even bigger post-Panamax ship called the Budapest Express with 8700 TEUs will arrive at the Ceres terminal at Fairview Cove.

It represents the resumption of a stop cancelled two years ago. Both ships arriving at the two terminals this week are too big for the rival port of Montreal.

"Shipping lines are increasing the size of their vessels to take advantage of economies of scale. The larger the ship the lower the unit cost of operation is," Dinning said.

"Large ships like this can't go down the St. Lawrence into Montreal. They have problems with draft in the summer (too much ship in too little water) and with ice in the winter."