Maersk Line voices support for Nicaragua Canal

Maersk Line has become the first major carrier to publicly voice support for a Nicaragua Canal, a project which has been met with much scepticism from the wider world.

“Building a Nicaragua Canal seems to make good sense,” Keith Svendsen, the line’s head of daily operations, told ShippingWatch. “The canal is projected to have room for the biggest ships, while also saving 800 km on a journey from New York to Los Angeles. We generally support infrastructure improvements.

“It brings improved opportunities for transport, and thus trade. When we built container ships 20 years ago they were scaled according to the Panama Canal, but the ships today are bigger than the 4,500 teu that could fit on the biggest ships back then. Even after the expansion of the Panama Canal, the biggest ships won’t fit there.”